On the
Front Line
The Collected Journalism
of Marie Colvin
Copyright
HarperPress
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
Published by HarperPress in 2012
Copyright © Sunday Times 2012 except:
‘Letter from … Kosare’ © Marie Colvin 1999
‘Bravery is not being afraid to be afraid’ © Marie Colvin 2001
‘Into the underworld’ © Marie Colvin 2005
‘The Greatest Storyteller of All’ © Cat Colvin 2012
‘Marie Colvin: the last assignment’ by Jon Swain © Sunday Times 2012
‘Reports of my survival may be greatly exaggerated’ © Alan Jenkins 2012
All photographs from Marie Colvin’s private collection, unless otherwise stated
The Publishers are committed to respecting the intellectual property rights of others and have made all reasonable efforts to trace the copyright owners of the photographs reproduced, and provide an appropriate acknowledgement in the book. In the event that any of the untraceable copyright owners come forward after the publication of this book, the Publishers will use all reasonable endeavours to rectify the position accordingly.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication
Source ISBN: 9780007487967
Ebook Edition © APRIL 2012 ISBN: 9780007487974
Version: 26-03-2019
Epigraph
Simply: there’s no way to cover war properly without risk. Covering a war means going into places torn by chaos, destruction, death and pain, and trying to bear witness to that. I care about the experience of those most directly affected by war, those asked to fight and those who are just trying to survive.
Going to these places, finding out what is happening, is the only way to get at the truth. Despite all the videos you see on television, what’s on the ground has remained remarkably the same for the past 100 years. Craters. Burnt houses. Women weeping for sons and daughters. Suffering. In my profession, there is no chance of unemployment. The real difficulty is having enough faith in humanity to believe that someone will care.
MARIE COLVIN
The Sunday Times, 21 October 2001,
‘Bravery is not being afraid to be afraid’
The Marie Colvin Memorial Fund
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book goes to the Marie Colvin Memorial Fund
The Colvin family has established a memorial fund in honour of Marie. The fund will direct donations to charitable and educational organisations that reflect Marie’s lifelong dedication to humanitarian aid, human rights, journalism and education.
We thank you for sharing this information with others who may be interested.
Donations may be made payable to:
The Marie Colvin Fund at LICF
1864 Muttontown Road
Syosset, N.Y. 11791
More information on the Marie Colvin Memorial Fund,
and online payment options are available at:
www.mariecolvin.org
Marie at a university party during her time at Yale, New Haven, CT.
Marie on the beach, Cyprus, 1987.
Marie with her mother Rosemarie Colvin, at her wedding to Juan Carlos Gumucio in London.
Marie with nieces Michelle Colvin, right, and Justine Colvin, Oyster Bay, 2004.
Marie sailing near Zakynthos, 2007. Photograph by Richard Flaye.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
The Marie Colvin Memorial Fund
FOREWORD
by Cat Colvin
PART ONE
IRAN–IRAQ WAR
Basra – blitzed and battered, but not beaten – 25 January 1987
Black banners of death fly over Baghdad – 25 January 1987
Wine and lipstick lay Iran’s ghost to rest – 29 October 1989
MIDDLE EAST
Soviet settlers jolted by the promised land – 11 February 1990
Love sours for Romeo and Juliet of the West Bank – 1 April 1990
Desperately seeking answers in the Arafat slipstream – 5 June 1990
Home alone in Palestine – 19 September 1993
Arafat thrives amid cut and thrust of peace – 9 January 1994
LIBYA 1992–93