A plane crash -- Overthrowing the patriarchy, in eighth grade -- A family of spies -- A glimpse of journalism -- A wimpy kid -- High school rabble-rouser -- Faking it at Harvard -- From Oxford to the Khyber Pass -- 'I will shoot you' -- Making mistakes in Arabic -- Abe Rosenthal makes an offer -- Cub reporter -- Finding Sheryl..and a job abroad -- My soulmate -- How little we knew -- Witness to a massacre -- We become 'hoodlums' -- The prize -- An escaped felon -- Frequenting a brothel -- Journey into a war -- 'We have to kill them' -- 'Do they play baseball in America?' -- I become an editor -- I begin my column -- The Iraq war -- Covering genocide -- Where's the line? -- What I learned from genocide -- The Arab spring -- Covering genocide and poverty left me an optimist -- A day in the life of a columnist -- Exorcising our ghosts -- Women hold up half the sky -- Covering Donald Trump -- Politics? 'Don't do it' -- My hat in the ring -- Navigating a campaign -- 'To fill a person's heart' -- Acknowledgments -- Index.
Summary:
"Since 1984, Nicholas Kristof has worked almost continuously for The New York Times as a reporter, foreign correspondent, bureau chief, and now columnist, becoming one of the foremost reporters of his generation. Here, he recounts his event-filled path from a small-town farm in Oregon to every corner of the world.Reporting from Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo, while traveling far afield to India, Africa, and Europe, Kristof witnessed and wrote about century-defining events: the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, the Yemeni civil war, the Darfur genocide in Sudan, and the wave of addiction and despair that swept through his hometown and a broad swath of working-class America. Fully aware that coverage of atrocities generates considerably fewer page views than the coverage of politics, he nevertheless continued to weaponize his pen against regimes and groups violating basic human rights, raising the cost of oppression and torture. Some of the risks he took while doing so make for hair-raising reading. Kristof writes about some of the great members of his profession and introduces us to extraordinary people he has met, such as the dissident whom he helped escape from China and a Catholic nun who browbeat a warlord into releasing schoolgirls he had kidnapped. These are the people, the heroes, who have allowed Kristof to remain optimistic. Side by side with the worst of humanity, you always see the best.This is a candid memoir of vulnerability and courage, humility and purpose, mistakes and learning-a singular tale of the trials, tribulations, and hope to be found in a life dedicated to the pursuit of truth"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.