Wikipedia

Terry A. Anderson

For other people with the same name, seeTerry Anderson (disambiguation).

Terry Alan Anderson(October 27, 1947 – April 21, 2024) was an American journalist and combat veteran. He reported for theAssociated Press.[1]In 1985, he was takenhostagebyShiaHezbollahmilitants of theIslamic Jihad Organizationin Lebanon[2]and held until 1991. In 2004, he ran unsuccessfully for theOhio State Senate.

Terry A. Anderson
Anderson in 1996
Born(1947-10-27)October 27, 1947
Lorain, Ohio,U.S.
DiedApril 21, 2024(2024-04-21)(aged 76)
Greenwood Lake, New York,U.S.
Alma materIowa State University
OccupationJournalist
Employers
Known forHostage in Lebanon (1985–1991)
Spouses
Mihoko Anderson
​
(divorced)​
  • Madeleine Bassil
Children2
Signature

Early life

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Anderson was born inLorain, Ohio,on October 27, 1947.[3]In Lorain, his father Glen Anderson was the village police officer and, later, when his family moved to Batavia, New York, his mother Lily (Lunn) Anderson was a waitress and his father was a truck driver.[4][5]He was raised inBatavia, New York,and graduated fromBatavia High Schoolin 1965.[6]A professionaljournalist,he was in theUnited States Marine Corpsfor six years, serving as a combat journalist for five years among Japan, Okinawa, and Vietnam.[5]He served two tours of duty in Vietnam during theVietnam War.[7]As a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps, he spent his final year atAmes, Iowa,as arecruiterfor the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.[5][8]After his discharge he enrolled atIowa State University,graduating in 1974 with dual degrees: one in journalism and mass communication, the other inpolitical science.During his studies at Iowa State, he was employed as a part time photographer and reporter at theKRNTradio and television station in Des Moines.[3][9][10]He then joined theAssociated Press,serving in Kentucky, Japan and South Africa before being assigned to Lebanon as chief Middle Eastern correspondent for next two and a half years beginning in 1983.[3][5][9]

Hostage in Lebanon

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Main article:Lebanon hostage crisis
Anderson being welcomed home toLorain, Ohio,on June 21, 1992

On March 16, 1985, Anderson had just finished a tennis game when he was abducted from the street inBeirut,placed in the trunk of a car, and taken to a secret location where he was imprisoned.[11]For the next six years and nine months, he was held captive, being moved periodically to new sites. His captors were a group ofHezbollahShiite Muslims who were supported by Iran in supposed retaliation for Israel's use of U.S. weapons and aid in its 1982–83 strikes againstMuslimandDruzetargets in Lebanon. He was the longest-held of the Western hostages captured by Hezbollah in an effort to drive U.S. military forces from Lebanon during theLebanese Civil War.[12][13][a]

During his captivity, numerous persons fiercely advocated for his release including his older sister Peggy Say, who rallied support fromMother Teresa,Pope John Paul II,Yasir Arafat,andRonald Reagan,professional journalistsDan Ratherand Kevin Cooney, who was a close friend from Anderson's days in Iowa, his fellow colleagues at theAssociated Pressand numerous other journalists who had covered war zones.[1][4][14][15][16][17]

Anderson was released on December 4, 1991,[18]and said he had forgiven his captors.[19]Later, when asked if he would return to the Middle East as a correspondent, he stated, "I wouldn't go there for a million dollars. It is very dangerous."[17]

Post-captivity life

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After his release, Anderson taught courses at theColumbia Graduate School of Journalism[20]and at theE.W. Scripps School of JournalismatOhio University.[21]He wrote a best selling memoir of his experience as a hostage, titledDen of Lions.[22][23][24]

He filed suit against theIranian governmentfor his captivity, and, on March 24, 2000, was awarded a $324 million settlement fromfrozen Iranian assetsby U.S. District JudgeThomas Penfield Jacksonbased upon a 1996 anti-terrorism law which allows United States citizens, who are victims of terrorist acts abroad, the right in United States courts to sue foreign countries which are classified as sponsors of terrorism by the United States State Department.[16][25]Estimates put the amount he actually received at $26 million.[21]The judgement from U.S. District Judge Jackson also awarded $10 million to his second wife Madeleine Bassil and $6.7 million to their daughter Sulome Anderson with $40 million for his parents Glen and Lily (Lunn) Anderson through additional lawsuits.[5][26][27]

Anderson for some time lived inNicholasville,Kentucky,teaching journalism and diversity at theUniversity of Kentucky.[28]In 2009, Anderson joined the faculty of the School of Journalism at theUniversity of KentuckyinLe xing ton, Kentucky.[29][30]In November 2009, he filed for bankruptcy under chapter 7.[31]In 2011, he became a visiting professional at theS.I. Newhouse School of Public CommunicationsatSyracuse University.[32][33]In 2013, he acted as Honorary Chair of theCommittee to Protect Journalists,a non-profit that supports press freedom around the globe.[34]In 2014, he moved to Hidden Village inGainesville, Florida,to teach a course in international journalism at theUniversity of Florida.[35]

Philanthropy

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With some of his settlement, Anderson, Marcia Landau and actressKieu Chinhfounded theVietnam Children's Fund,which has built more than 50 schools in Vietnam.[5][36][37]

Anderson also created the Father Lawrence Jenco Foundation with a $100,000 endowment to honor and support people who do charitable and community service projects inAppalachia.Lawrence Jencowas a formerCatholic Relief Servicesdirector in Beirut who also was kidnapped. The two men met in jail.[38]Jenco, who died in 1996, wrote his memoirs,Bound to Forgive,for which Anderson wrote the preface.[39]

2004 State Senate campaign

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In December 2003 Anderson announced his candidacy on theDemocraticticket to represent the 20th District in theOhio Senate.His opponent wasRepublicancandidateJoy Padgett,who had been appointed to the seat earlier in the term. Padgett ran controversial ads suggesting that Anderson would be soft on terrorism: the ads showed Anderson shaking hands with one of his former kidnappers.[40]He received 46% of the vote[41]in a district that leans Republican; the seat has been held by Republicans since 1977.[42]

Personal life

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Anderson was married and divorced three times.[5][43]He met his first wife, Mihoko "Mickey" Anderson, while he was a Marine stationed with theArmed Forces Radioand Television Service inJapan.They had one daughter Gabrielle Anderson, but later divorced.[5][44]After 1982, he became engaged to Madeleine Bassil, aLebanesenative from aMaronite Christianfamily; they had one daughter,Sulome Anderson,born in 1985,[44][45][46]three months after he was taken hostage.[47][48][49]After his release, Anderson and Bassil were married in 1993, but later divorced.[5][43]

A fan ofblues music,Anderson owned the Blue Gator from early 2002 until mid-2008, a blues bar inAthens, Ohio,which hosted regional and national acts.[50][51][52]

In an interview in the spring 1995 newsletter of the School of Journalism Alumni Association, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, by Will Norton Jr., Anderson is quoted:

Is there going to be peace in the world? I'm a Christian. I believe eventually there will be, at thesecond coming.I think we are moving into an era of greater, or if not peace, at least of greater prosperity. Think about it: In the last 10 to 15 years there are hundreds of millions of people in the world who are living in a greater degree of individual responsibility and freedom and perhaps dignity than there were 15 years ago. That's true in eastern Europe, in Latin America, even in Asia. That great process of history, of thousands of years of an increase in a dignity of the individual, seems to have been halted for a good period of time by the growth oftotalitariansocieties, and those are breaking up now. Certainly the totalitarian instinct has not gone away. There are a great many wars going on and struggles by peoples, but that ice jam, that blockage that was representative of the domination of a third of the world bycommunism,is gone. I think that's reason for great optimism.[53]

Anderson died at his home inGreenwood Lake, New York,on April 21, 2024, at the age of 76. He had recently undergone heart surgery.[43][54][55][56]

Anderson's papers are held at Iowa State University.[57]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^While Anderson was in Lebanon during the civil war,others held captivewere several U.S. citizens, includingWilliam Francis Buckley,CIAstation chief in Beirut;Thomas Sutherland,the dean of agriculture at theAmerican University of Beirut;Catholic priest, FatherLawrence Jenco;David P. Jacobsen, administrator at the American University Hospital of Beirut; Presbyterian ministerBenjamin Weir;Jerry Levin,CNN's Beirut bureau chief; Frank Reed, head of theLebanese International School;Joseph Cicippio,deputy controller of the American University of Beirut; Edward Tracy, a bookseller and writer in Beirut; and Professors Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, and Robert Polhill.[2][9]The special envoyTerry Waite,who went to Lebanon to negotiate the release of numerous hostages held in Lebanon including Terry Anderson, became a hostage and was involved in theIrangatescandal.[8][5]

References

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  1. ^abSpecter, Michael(December 11, 1991)."Terry Anderson Receives Hero's Welcome at A.P.".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on October 5, 2016.RetrievedNovember 12,2019.
  2. ^ab"Lebanon: The Hostage Crisis".December 1987.Archivedfrom the original on September 25, 2004.RetrievedMay 12,2017.
  3. ^abcBarron, James(March 16, 1990)."A Lost American in Lebanon: After 5 Years, Trail Is Faint".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on November 12, 2019.RetrievedNovember 12,2019.
  4. ^abLague, Louise (June 27, 1994)."Big Sister, Big Heart: Now That Her Brother Is Free, Peggy Say Rescues a New Kind of Hostage".People Magazine.Archived fromthe originalon March 14, 2009.RetrievedMay 9,2024.
  5. ^abcdefghijRoberts, Sam (April 21, 2024)."Terry Anderson, Reporter Held Hostage for Six Years, Dies at 76: The Beirut bureau chief for The Associated Press, he was kidnapped in 1985 by Islamic militants".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon April 21, 2024.RetrievedMay 9,2024.
  6. ^"Bust of Anderson Finds New Home at Batavia High".The Buffalo News.April 9, 1993.Archivedfrom the original on December 23, 2014.RetrievedMarch 25,2011.A bust of former hostage Terry Anderson, consigned to a cluttered storeroom a few months ago after standing in the Genesee Country Mall during much of his captivity, is headed for a place of honor in Batavia High School. Anderson's classmateStephen M. Hawley,to whom he had entrusted the bust, chose to donate it to the school from which they both graduated in 1965.
  7. ^Say, Peggy (1991).Forgotten.Simon & Schuster. pp.9,14–15.ISBN978-0-671-70155-0.
  8. ^abMeldrum, Andrew; Weber, Christopher (April 21, 2024)."Terry Anderson, AP reporter abducted in Lebanon and held captive for years, has died at 76".Associated Press.Archived fromthe originalon April 23, 2024.RetrievedApril 23,2024.
  9. ^abcKCCI staff (April 22, 2024)."KCCI archives: Look back at KCCI's coverage around release of hostage Terry Anderson".KCCI.Des Moines.Archived fromthe originalon April 22, 2024.RetrievedApril 22,2024.
  10. ^KCCI staff (April 22, 2024)."Reaction to death of Terry Anderson, ISU grad and AP reporter held hostage in Middle East".KCCI.Des Moines.Archived fromthe originalon April 22, 2024.RetrievedApril 22,2024.
  11. ^"Fort Worth Star-Telegram 10 Dec 1987, page 12".Archivedfrom the original on November 23, 2022.RetrievedNovember 23,2022.
  12. ^"Terry Anderson, reporter held hostage for years in Lebanon, dies at 76; remembered for" great bravery and resolve "".CBS News.April 22, 2024.Archivedfrom the original on April 22, 2024.RetrievedApril 22,2024.
  13. ^"This Day in History: Journalist Terry Anderson Abducted in Beirut".Voice of America.March 16, 2017.Archivedfrom the original on April 22, 2024.RetrievedApril 22,2024.
  14. ^Roberts, Sam (December 24, 2015)."Peggy Say, Voice for Hostages in Lebanon, Dies at 74".New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon May 9, 2024.RetrievedMay 9,2024.
  15. ^Howard, Jacqueline (April 22, 2024)."Terry Anderson: US journalist held hostage in Lebanon for years dies at 76".BBC.Archived fromthe originalon May 9, 2024.RetrievedMay 9,2024.
  16. ^abMiller, Bill; Tucker, Neely (March 24, 2000)."Ex-Hostage Anderson Wins Judgment Against Iran".Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon May 9, 2024.RetrievedMay 9,2024.
  17. ^abMagel, Todd (April 22, 2024)."Retired KCCI Anchor Kevin Cooney recalls the late Terry Anderson who was a hostage in the Middle East in the 1980s".KCCI.Des Moines.Archived fromthe originalon April 23, 2024.RetrievedApril 24,2024.
  18. ^Hedges, Chris (December 5, 1991)."The Last U.S. Hostage: Anderson, Last U.S. Hostage, is Freed by Captors in Beirut".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on December 4, 2020.RetrievedDecember 2,2020.
  19. ^"KY: Former Mideast hostage Terry A. Anderson speaks to college".Apex MediaWire. April 15, 2010.[permanent dead link‍]
  20. ^"Colleagues, friends pay tribute to late American journalist Terry Anderson".Voice of America.April 22, 2024.RetrievedApril 24,2024.
  21. ^abPhillips, Jim (June 25, 2008)."Anderson may lose Athens farm".Columbus Dispatch.Archived fromthe originalon February 5, 2016.RetrievedOctober 28,2013.
  22. ^Anderson, Terry A. (1994).Den of Lions: Memoirs of Seven Years.G.K. Hall.ISBN978-0-8161-5931-4.
  23. ^Sheridan, Michael (April 22, 1994)."BOOK REVIEW / Something has gone, never to return: 'Den of Lions' - Terry Anderson: Hodder & Stoughton, 9.99 pounds: Michael Sheridan finds diamonds in the memoirs of Terry Anderson and other hostages".The Independent.RetrievedApril 24,2024.
  24. ^"Den of Lions: Memoirs of Seven Years by Terry Anderson".publishersweekly.August 30, 1993.RetrievedApril 24,2024.
  25. ^"تری اندرسون، گروگان سابق شبهنظامیان شیعه لبنانی در ۷۶ سالگی درگذشت"[Terry Anderson, former hostage of Lebanese Shiite militia, dies at 76].BBC(in Persian). April 22, 2024. Archived fromthe originalon April 23, 2024.RetrievedApril 23,2024.
  26. ^Kaur, Anumita; Parker, Nick (April 21, 2024)."Terry Anderson, AP journalist kidnapped for almost seven years, dies at 76: He became one of America's longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Beirut".Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon April 21, 2024.RetrievedMay 9,2024.
  27. ^Burleigh, Nina (November 25, 2016)."Terry Anderson's Daughter Investigates His 1985 Kidnapping".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon April 22, 2024.RetrievedMay 9,2024.
  28. ^Alessi, Ryan (December 19, 2008)."Former Middle East hostage Terry Anderson to teach at UK".Le xing ton Herald-Leader.Archivedfrom the original on July 15, 2010.RetrievedApril 18,2010.
  29. ^"Former AP Reporter/Middle East Hostage Teaching at UK".University of Kentucky News. January 15, 2009. Archived fromthe originalon January 17, 2009.
  30. ^"Terry Anderson Gives University of Kentucky Students a Global Perspective".YouTube. September 25, 2009.Archivedfrom the original on December 12, 2021.
  31. ^Phillips, Jim (November 13, 2009)."Terry Anderson, ex-hostage, files for bankruptcy".The Columbus Dispatch.Archived fromthe originalon January 22, 2013.
  32. ^McChesney, Charles (April 30, 2011)."Ex-hostage Terry Anderson to teach at Syracuse University's Newhouse School next year".The Post-Standard.Syracuse, New York.Archivedfrom the original on March 4, 2016.RetrievedMay 12,2017.
  33. ^Sawyer, Liz (December 7, 2011)."Tough to define: Professor remains optimistic 20 years after being taken prisoner".The Daily Orange.Archivedfrom the original on March 6, 2022.RetrievedMarch 6,2022.
  34. ^"About CPJ: Board of Directors".Archivedfrom the original on July 2, 2010.RetrievedOctober 28,2013.
  35. ^Schweers, Jeff (May 3, 2014)."Former hostage Terry Anderson, who will teach at UF, remains passionate about journalism: Terry Anderson is still settling into his new home in Hidden Village and getting to know the lay of the land".The Gainesville Sun.Gainesville, Florida.Archivedfrom the original on April 22, 2024.RetrievedMay 12,2017.
  36. ^"Anderson, Khashoggi, Ressa and Ut named SPJ Fellows of the Society".Society of Professional Journalists.August 22, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on January 8, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 8,2024.
    C. McKinney, Joan (March 31, 2010)."CU to hold 'Conversation with Terry Anderson' April 15".Campbellsville University.Archivedfrom the original on January 8, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 8,2024.
  37. ^Rafael García, Sarah (March 23, 2022)."The Women of the Vietnamese American Arts Scene in Orange County".KOCE-TV.Archivedfrom the original on January 8, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 8,2024.
  38. ^Kiesewetter, John (February 9, 2002)."Terry Anderson talks tough: Ex-hostage would like to tell Daniel Pearl's kidnappers, 'You've made a mistake. It's never going to work.'".Cincinnati Enquirer.Archivedfrom the original on April 22, 2024.RetrievedMay 12,2017.
  39. ^Jenco, Lawrence Martin(May 1995).Bound to Forgive: The Pilgrimage of Reconciliation of a Beirut Hostage.Notre Dame:Ave Maria Press.ISBN978-0877935544.
  40. ^Ridgeway, James (October 19, 2004)."GOP Target: Terry Anderson".The Village Voice.Archived fromthe originalon February 15, 2006.RetrievedOctober 18,2005.
  41. ^"2004 election results".Ohio Secretary of State. November 2004. Archived fromthe originalon June 21, 2006.
  42. ^Fischer, Ben (December 30, 2003)."Anderson announces candidacy".Parkersburg News and Sentinel.Archived fromthe originalon November 23, 2004.
  43. ^abcRogers, John (April 21, 2024)."Terry Anderson, AP reporter held captive for years, has died".Associated Press.Archivedfrom the original on April 21, 2024.RetrievedApril 21,2024.
  44. ^abSun Sentinel: "Anderson`s Fiancee Kept Quiet Watch" By MARJORIE WILLIAMSArchivedAugust 11, 2014, at theWayback MachineDecember 18, 1991
  45. ^Deseret News:"TERRY ANDERSON: DEN OF LIONS; HOSTAGE'S LIFE FULL OF PAIN AND MEMORIES" FromDen of Lions: Memoirs of Seven YearsBy Terry AndersonArchivedAugust 12, 2014, at theWayback MachinePublished September 30, 1993, by TMS Corp.
  46. ^Sulome Anderson (July 22, 2014)."I'm Arab-American. My Boyfriend Is Jewish. A Selfie of Us Kissing Has Become a Viral Symbol of Peace".Intelligencer.Archivedfrom the original on March 6, 2022.RetrievedMarch 6,2022.
  47. ^"Anderson family: Life after ordeal in Beirut had its share of torture | The Seattle Times".archive.seattletimes.Archivedfrom the original on March 6, 2022.RetrievedMarch 6,2022.
  48. ^"Kiss and tell: Arab-Jewish peck goes viral".Al Arabiya English.July 22, 2014.Archivedfrom the original on March 6, 2022.RetrievedMarch 6,2022.
  49. ^Kuruvilla, Carol (July 22, 2014)."Arab-Jewish couple kiss in Twitter picture to support peace in Gaza".nydailynews.Archivedfrom the original on March 6, 2022.RetrievedMarch 6,2022.
  50. ^Staff Writer (June 25, 2008)."Anderson may lose Athens farm".The Columbus Dispatch.Archivedfrom the original on January 8, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 8,2024.
  51. ^Alessi, Ryan (December 19, 2008)."Former Middle East hostage Terry Anderson to teach at UK".Le xing ton Herald-Leader.Archivedfrom the original on January 8, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 8,2024.
  52. ^Phillips, John (July 3, 2012)."Former blues-bar building purchased for $450,000".The Athens News.Athens, Ohio.Archivedfrom the original on April 22, 2024.RetrievedMay 12,2017.
  53. ^"Terry Anderson Biography | Booking Info for Speaking Engagements".allamericanspeakers.Archivedfrom the original on March 6, 2022.RetrievedMarch 6,2022.
  54. ^"US journalist Terry Anderson, held hostage in Lebanon in 1980s, dies".The Guardian.April 22, 2024.ISSN0261-3077.Archivedfrom the original on April 22, 2024.RetrievedApril 22,2024.
  55. ^"Who was Terry Anderson? US journalist held hostage in Lebanon for years dies at 76".Hindustan Times.April 22, 2024.RetrievedApril 24,2024.
  56. ^"US journalist Terry Anderson once held captive in Mideast dies at 76".The Times of India.April 22, 2024.RetrievedApril 24,2024.
  57. ^"Terry A. Anderson Papers, MS 272, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library".
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