Anthony Shadid 1968 - 2012
Photo by Peter Barreras
Anthony Shadid, Senior Middle East correspondent for the New York Times has died in Syria. Tony was a alum of The Daily Cardinal. The winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, The Times has nominated him and his colleagues for a third as part of their Arab Spring reporting team this year.
Anthony Sansone, president of The Daily Cardinal Alumni Association, issued the following statement:
Anthony Shadid was what we wanted to be; what we want journalists to be: resourceful in getting the story and dedicated to seeking the truth. Anthony was a gifted writer and an incredibly resourceful reporter.
When honored for the second time at the DCAA's 2005 Awards Dinner for his first Pulitzer Prize, he said that working at the Daily Cardinal was the hardest job he ever had. This was after being shot in Rumullah and covering the Iraq War.
He always made time for the Cardinal and its staff whenever he could, whenever he was in town or whenever he could take a call or reply to an email. He loved talking to the students. He loved journalism. He loved the Cardinal.
Looking to the Cardinal's 120th Anniversary in April, he wrote to the DCAA: "I can't believe I'm missing the 120th anniversary. I'll have to make sure to be there for the 125th. Good luck. I'll be with you all in spirit."
Yes, he will.
He is one of us. He was the best of us. We loved him. And we will miss him.
Fellow Cardinal alum Paul Norton posted:
Here's an Anthony comment we can all treasure: "The Cardinal days seem like so long ago, but they really were the place we all became who we are."
Tony's new book will be out next month, House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East. According to the book’s blurb:
“Last spring, when Tony—one of four New York Times reporters captured in Libya as the region erupted—was freed, he went home. Not to Boston, Beirut, or Oklahoma where he was raised by his Lebanese-American family, but to an ancient estate built by his great-grandfather, a place filled with memories of a lost era when the Middle East was a world of grace, grandeur, and unexpected departures.
"For two years previous, Shadid had worked to reconstruct the house and restore his spirit after both had weathered war. Now the author of the award-winning Night Draws Near (National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Prize) tells the story of the house’s re-creation, revealing its mysteries and recovering the lives that have passed through it. Shadid juxtaposes past and present as he traces the house’s renewal along with his family’s flight from Lebanon and resettlement in America.
"House of Stone is an unforgettable memoir of the world’s most volatile landscape and the universal yearning for home.”
The DCAA and the University of Wisconsin Foundation will be making an announcement about a scholarship in Anthony Shadid's memory in the next few weeks.
Forsmo Family Announces UW/Cardinal Art Scholarship
On Saturday, March 12, James Forsmo, Daily Cardinal graphics editor in Fall 1981 and 1984, passed away.
The DCAA is working with his widow, Sharon Ely Forsmo, also a Cardinal alumna, and the UW Foundation to create a benefit in his name.
The James J. Forsmo Art Scholarship would be a one-year scholarship for art students at the UW, with preference for those working at the Daily Cardinal. The UW Foundation will manage the fund and the amount and number of scholarships will depend upon the amount raised. The minimum that would need to be raised is $10,000 to endow a $1,000 annual scholarship (a matching fund scholarship with the Wisconsin Alumni Association).
The fundraising is starting with the sale of a poster that Jim designed. This poster can be purchased through the DCAA on this site. Of the cost, $25 will go to the scholarship and the rest toward shipping and handling.
Sharon will be holding a live silent art auction in Phoenix at First Studio on April 9. The DCAA hopes to follow this with an online art auction on eBay the following week through the end of the month. More information on the art auction will be forthcoming.
Any Cardinal alumni artists or photographers interested in donating work should contact us at +1 877 THE DCAA (843 3222) or dcaa@dailycardinal.net for more information.
Cardinal Alumnus, NBC News Veteran Edwin Newman Dies at 91
Edwin Newman was a 1940 graduate of the University of Wisconsin and was inducted into the Cardinal Hall of Fame in 1999.
Newman, 91, served in many capacities for NBC, as an anchor, a news reporter, a commentator, a moderator and a host.
He was particularly well-known for his writings, including those about language. They include "Strictly Speaking: Will America Be the Death of English?" and "A Civil Tongue."
“For decades America got its news from NBC’s Edwin Newman. He was one of our nation’s preeminent journalists, an authoritative figure on grammar and the English language, a true professional and always the gentleman," President of NBC News Steve Capus said in a statement. "He brought dignity and great perspective to an endless array of historic news events. He set a standard for decades to come, at NBC News and throughout this profession. Edwin will be missed as a journalist, and as a respected member of the NBC News family.”
The DCAA extends its condolences to his family and friends.