Kapuscinski Dies At 74

The last time I reported on the death of a much loved writer it was Naguib Mahfouz.

This time, sadly, Ryszard Kapuscinski (pronounced 'Kah-poosh-CHIN-skee'), has passed away at the age of 74. Kapuscinski was a fabulous Polish journalist/travel writer/recorder of political upheavals of all sorts. See article on him on Wikipedia.

Here's an excerpt of an obituary from The Guardian's website at Guardian Unlimited. It will give readers unfamiliar with Kapuscinski a starting point to know him better. In the obituary, Frank Bajak, a friend of Kapuscinskis, recounts interviews he had conducted in the past.

Grab the author's "In the Shadow of the Sun'' (my personal favourite) for a fond appreciation of Africa - in sketches, for it would have been foolhardy to attempt to comprehend the continent as a whole, Kapuscinski told me.

Pick up "Imperium'' for a sympathetic portrait of "Homo Sovieticus,'' that paradigm of humanity beaten into submission by a heartless state.

Or marvel reading "Another Day of Life'' at Kapuscinski's derring-do and willingness to submit to physical depredation to chronicle the outbreak of Angola's civil war.

In his "Travels with Herodotus,'' due to be published in the United States this year, Kapuscinski offers tribute to the Greek historian he considered the world's first great reporter.

The Washington Post has a less fawning, much more linear obituary.