Sydney Schanberg facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sydney Schanberg
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| Born |
Sydney Hillel Schanberg
January 17, 1934 Clinton, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Died | July 9, 2016 (aged 82) Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.
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| Occupation | Journalist |
| Spouse(s) | Janice Leah Sakofsky (1967-1976 divorced) Jane Freiman (1995-2016 his death) |
| Children | Jessica and Rebecca |
Sydney Hillel Schanberg (January 17, 1934 – July 9, 2016) was an American journalist. He was famous for his reporting on the war in Cambodia. He won many important awards for his reporting, including a Pulitzer Prize.
Schanberg's experiences in Cambodia were made into a movie called The Killing Fields in 1984. In the film, actor Sam Waterston played Schanberg. The movie also showed the story of his Cambodian journalist friend, Dith Pran.
Contents
Early Life and His Start in Journalism
Sydney Schanberg was born in Clinton, Massachusetts, in 1934. His father owned a grocery store. He went to Clinton High School and then studied at Harvard University. He earned a degree in Government in 1955. After college, he joined the military for basic training in Texas.
In 1959, Schanberg started working as a journalist for The New York Times newspaper. In the early 1970s, he worked in Southeast Asia as a reporter for the Times. He won the George Polk Award twice for his excellent journalism.
In 1971, he was the head of the Times office in New Delhi. From there, he reported on terrible events happening in what was then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Later, from 1973 to 1975, he covered the Vietnam War as a reporter in Southeast Asia.
Reporting from Cambodia
After many years of fighting, Schanberg wrote about the Americans leaving Cambodia. He hoped that life for Cambodians would get better without the war.
However, things became very difficult after the Khmer Rouge group took control. Schanberg was one of the few American journalists who stayed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, after the city fell. He saw many of his Cambodian friends being forced to leave their homes. He later wrote that he felt sad and ashamed because he was safe, but his friends were not. He strongly spoke out against the "maniacal Khmer Rouge guerrillas," describing them as a very dangerous group.
Schanberg and his assistant were in danger and found safety in the French embassy. Two weeks later, they were able to leave Cambodia and travel to Thailand.
Later Career and Awards
In 1976, Schanberg won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. He received the award for his brave reporting from Cambodia. He chose to stay in Phnom Penh even when it was very risky.
In 1980, he wrote a book called The Death and Life of Dith Pran. This book was about how his friend and colleague, Dith Pran, survived under the Khmer Rouge. This book was the inspiration for the 1984 movie The Killing Fields.
Schanberg continued to work at The New York Times. He became an editor and later wrote a column about the New York metropolitan area. He left the Times in 1985 after some disagreements about his reporting.
From 1986 to 1995, he worked for Newsday newspaper. He also became very interested in the issue of American soldiers who went missing during the Vietnam War. He believed that some American prisoners of war (POWs) might have been left behind. He wrote many articles about this topic for publications like The Village Voice.
In 1992, Schanberg received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award. He also received an honorary degree from Colby College. Later, he worked for an online news website called APBNews.com. He also taught journalism as a visiting professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz in 2001.
Sydney Schanberg passed away on July 9, 2016, after having a heart attack.
See also
In Spanish: Sydney Schanberg para niños
