Stanley Karnow, US journalist and author, dies

MANILA, Philippines – American journalist and author Stanley Karnow, best known for his writings on the Vietnam War and US-Philippine history, died Sunday, January 27.

Karnow’s son Michael said the 87-year-old writer died of congestive heart failure, The Washington Post reported.

He is best known for “Vietnam: A History,” and “In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines,” two books that outlined America’s major involvements in Asia in the past century.

“Vietnam: A History” was a companion book to a 13-part PBS documentary on the same subject, and is praised as a definitive narrative on the costly and deadly war. The documentary won 6 Emmys, a Polk award, a DuPont, and a Peabody, aside from the distinction of being one of the most-watched factual programs at that time.

In “In Our Image,” Karnow wrote about the Philippines’ history from the Spanish era up to the American period. The book explained how the centuries of colonization, particularly by the US, shaped the country we now know. It is seen as one of the best books on US-Philippine relations, and earned Karnow widespread acclaim and the 1990 Pulitzer Prize in history.

He also wrote several other books, such as “Mao and China: From Revolution to Revolution,” and “Paris in the Fifties.”

Karnow, a native of Brooklyn, New York, studied in Harvard and served in the US Army Air Forces during World War II. At Harvard, he was part of the Crimson, the university’s student publication.

After graduating, he started a career as a foreign correspondent in Paris, working with Time magazine, where he slowly moved up the ranks. He was bureau chief for North Africa, then in Hong Kong, during which he started covering the Vietnam War.

He was with Time until 1962, then worked for the Saturday Evening Post, The Washington Post, and then with NBC. 

After years as a globe-trotting correspondent, he turned to book writing.

He was first married to Claude Sarraute, ending in divorce in 1955. He then remarried, tying the knot with Anette Kline, who died in 2009. He is survived by his 3 children. – Rappler.com