Marie colvin biography book

International Women's Media Foundation. IWMF offers safety training, reporting trips, and byline opportunities, all tailored to female journalists — both established, and up-and-coming. Their mission is to unleash the potential of women journalists as champions of press freedom to transform the global news media. Mike Wallace presents Courage in Journalism Award.

Marie Colvin Journalists' Network. The Network is an online community linking up-and-coming female journalists in the Middle East with mentors, and providing practical support including counselling and training. Founded by her friends Jane Wellesley, Lyse Doucet and Lindsey Hilsum, it operates in association with The Circle, a movement founded by singer-songwriter and social activist Annie Lennox, who met Marie shortly before her death.

Committee to Protect Journalists. An independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide, defending the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal. Global Investigative Journalism Network. Provides resources and networking opportunities along with developmental help. Publishes reliable research and data surrounding audience trend analysis, engagement, social media and other areas.

Founded to save lives and speak out, MSF has treated tens of millions of people since International Rescue Committee. Closing the year in Chechnya, she climbed the Caucasus Mountains in mid-winter. Reporting on the Tamil Tigers, behind the lines in Sri Lank in , she lost her left eye to a grenade. In Syria, February , covering the siege of Homs, she was killed, alongside photographer Remy Oshlick.

Had she become oblivious to the risks she was taking? She was fifty six year old. Her aim was to tell people what really happens in war. Marie lived her life with a passion. Looking at her life we see not only her own life, but also what it entails to be a war correspondent. Life is lived on a taut spring, at any and every moment ready to snap.

Nights at bars. An abundance of liquor and multiple packs of cigarettes make up the daily ration of what is consumed—not food. Switching bed partners and sexual infidelities are the norm. What is that? I do not quite understand how these reporters can do their jobs and live as they do, but this is their way of coping. Wound up and taut, the never-ending tension of the job results not seldom in PTSD.

Survival guilt plagues many. Both her vulnerability and her strength are revealed. I came to care for her. I laughed with her. I saw exactly how she was thinking. I got to know her as a person. This comes through in the telling. Extremely interesting tidbits are added. I will mention but one—I had never heard of sympathetic ophthalmia.

Loosing vision in one eye put her at risk for loosing vison in the other! Marie Colvin covered those conflicts others shied away from because they were too dangerous. There is no distance between herself and those she reports on. Throughout her life she remained determined to bear witness and to bring events home vividly. To make people care.

I wondered whether she would present a balanced and honest view of her? I believe she has. Hilsum identifies points where Marie drew incorrect conclusions. She discusses both her strengths and weaknesses. They met for the first time during the Kosovo War. With the passage of time they met more and more frequently, both socially and on the job.

She spoke with Marie over Skype shortly before she was killed. The author has a tendency to only occasionally state the surname of the individual spoken of. Lindsey Hilsum is not only the author but also the narrator of the audiobook. She reads at an uneven speed, making some sections difficult to follow. Parts are read much too rapidly. Her pronunciation of words is not always clear.

On the other hand, her involvement and enthusiasm is engaging. Three stars for the narration. John Hersey, spoken of above, and Martha Gellhorn must be named. Clearly, Marie will be a role model for future generations. The incredible life of an amazing journalist with a passion for people. Lindsey Hilsum's book is an incredible tribute to Marie Colvin.

About Marie's dedication to learning about her subject: "Marie put in the time so that the officials felt that they were friends not just contacts. She had a way of making Arafat feel comfortable and he liked female company. Her reporting was exceptional. It has always seemed to me that what I write about is humanity in extremis pushed to the unendurable and that it is important to tell people what really happens in wars declared and undeclared.

From the epilogue: At her funeral "as pipers played Amazing Grace the mourners stepped out into the sunlight where a knot of Tamils stood silently holding placards and handing out leaflets. Tomorrow you will live forever all over the world in the hearts and minds of the lovers of humanity. Marie Colvin, a foreign affairs correspondent, lived her life on the edge.

From a young age danger and life risking pursuits exhilarated her. Giving a voice to those unfortunate victims of war was the elixir she needed. Her passion was helping, through interviews, the vulnerable civilians whose safety was of no concern to the ruthless leaders engaged in bloody conflicts. How much horror and cruelty can we see before we are changed by it, sometimes irrevocably?

I believe Marie was definitely changed. Her life away from reporting was filled with fear, depression, alcohol, cigarettes, and bad relationships. Marie Colvin was a courageous woman, one who seemed happiest when helping the helpless and risking her life. I think she lost a piece of herself in each war zone assignment, and I'm not sure had she survived, she could have adjusted to everyday life.

Lindsey Hilsum, a friend of Marie's, based this book on the journals and diaries Marie kept. It is well-written, informative, and heartbreaking. The world needs more people like Marie, but perhaps the cost is too great. Joy D. Biography of journalist Marie Colvin - She gave a voice to the civilians caught in war zones, reporting what she observed first-hand, countering propaganda by telling the truth.

She believed by reporting the toll on women and children, she could make a difference in the world, and her actions backed up her beliefs. She lived life on the edge, often taking risks beyond what others thought prudent. She lost the sight in one eye in Sri Lanka. She lost her life in Syria. This book provides a comprehensive picture of her personality, including her faults as well as her heroism.

She engaged in reckless behavior in her personal life, drinking to excess and not taking care of her health. Her relationships with men covered in excessive detail were mostly unhealthy. She suffered from PTSD. Sailing became an ongoing source of solace. Her life story is told with compassion by one of her colleagues and friends. It is a fascinating book about a fascinating person.

Anyone interested in journalism and journalists, and the single-minded pursuit of the truth will appreciate this book. Laurie Notaro. Author 21 books 2, followers.

Marie colvin biography book

One of the best books I have read this year, if not the best. Katia N. I am sitting in front of this 2-dimensional white space. And i do not know how i can write something to express what I think about Marie Colvin in those two dimensions. It just does not fit. It is very good, at least when I was reading it, i was not thinking even for a moment about the quality of what I was reading.

So it has to be good then. She kept the diary for her whole life and they were made available for the biography. But without it, the biography would probably feel so immediate and authentic… But Marie. I do not want to add my tiny little drop to her growing mythology. But what if in her case it is simply true? She believed the journalists could influence the sides to stop slaughtering the innocent.

And it worked sometimes after her reporting. She was very unlucky in love, her lovers and husbands betrayed her, she drunk a lot, she was glamorous and reckless. But she had the purpose in her journalism, and, when she was in the war zone, she was happy, she felt needed. And she was. According to Lindsey, she was the last of a kind.

She reported from the most dangerous places in the world, going in further and staying longer than anyone else. Like her hero, the legendary reporter Martha Gellhorn, she sought to bear witness to the horrifying truths of war, to write 'the first draft of history' and to shine a light on the suffering of ordinary people. Marie covered the major conflicts of our time: Israel and Palestine, Chechnya, East Timor, Sri Lanka - where she was hit by a grenade and lost sight in her left eye, resulting in her trademark eye-patch - Iraq and Afghanistan.

Or she can lie still, awaiting her fate. The decision will determine whether she lives or dies, but nothing will undo what is about to happen. She cannot roll back time, nor can she push it forward. Stand up? Crawl away? Lie still? Stand up As readers, we know that her story will end tragically, yet Marie Colvin's heroic journey from the beginning of her life still provides page-turning suspense.

It's only fitting that another journalist, Lindsey Hilsum, honors Colvin with this fascinating, detailed, page biography. Hilsum writes with clarity and precise attention to details. She had access to Colvin's personal journals and interviewed Colvin's numerous friends, colleagues, editors, former husbands and lovers, and family members. Hilsum's narrative is punctuated with excerpts from Covin's dispatches while on assignment for The Sunday Times Full Review words This review is available to non-members for a limited time.

For full access, become a member today. Reviewed by Karen Lewis.