Anne Garrels, longtime foreign correspondent for NPR, dies at 71
Anne Garrels, longtime foreign correspondent for NPR, died on Wednesday of lung cancer. She was 71 years old.
At NPR, Garrels was known as a passionate reporter willing to go anywhere in the world at a moment's notice if the story required it. She was also a warm and generous friend to many.
When she arrived at NPR in 1988, she already had a lot of experience under her belt — including 10 years in television news at ABC, where she was bureau chief in both Moscow and Central America.
Garrels made a strong impression on NPR's Deborah Amos. "She was this glamorous television reporter who came here," she said. "She didn't dress like the rest of us in the beginning. And she'd has this long and remarkable career before she landed here ... She was always braver than me, and I always understood that she was braver than me."
That bravery led Garrels into many war zones. And when it came to covering a war, she was there at the beginning, in the middle of the battle, and at the peace table. She was the kind of reporter who would drive alone across a war zone if that's what it took to get the story.
But in a 2003 interview with NPR's Susan Stamberg, Garrels insisted that she was not a "war junkie." "I didn't set out to be a war correspondent," she said. "The wars kept happening."
As Ted Clark, one her former NPR editors, remembered it, Garrels was a prolific reporter with a seemingly endless curiosity about the world.
"She went everywhere, she was on every continent. I looked at her stories on the NPR archives, and there were 90 pages. And on all kinds of subjects, not just political, not just military but social, artistic, cultural," Clark said.
NPR's Philip Reeves worked with Garrels on many stories from Iraq to Pakistan, but he first met her in Moscow. He said Garrels had a deep love and understanding of Russia.
"Unlike a lot of reporters who just go out there and collect quotes and relay them to their editors, Annie could actually get right inside the minds and hearts of people, and that's what made her an incredible reporter," he said.
As much as Anne Garrels loved Russia, she is probably best known for her reporting during the 2003 Iraq war. She was one of a handful of foreign reporters who remained in Bagdhad as the war began. As she told Susan Stamberg, she used a satellite phone for her reports and went to great lengths to conceal it from Iraqi authorities.
"And then I decided it would be very smart if I broadcast naked, so if that, god forbid, the secret police were coming through the rooms, that would give me maybe five minutes to answer the phone, pretend I'd been asleep and sort of go 'I don't have any clothes on!' And maybe it would maybe give me five seconds to hide the phone," she said.
Garrels later wrote about her wartime experiences in Iraq in a book called Naked in Bagdhad. NPR's Deborah Amos, who also reported from the Iraqi capital, remembered that Garrels sometimes took extraordinary risks to get a story.
Once, she had wanted to do a piece about cemetery workers in Najaf. "This was at the height of the killing and it was terrible in Bagdhad, and frightening. And so Annie rolled in a carpet in the back seat of a car, through the worst neighborhoods, so that she would not be visible," Amos said. "The piece was beautiful, and no one — of course, except for all of her colleagues — knew what it took for her to do that."
It's not that Garrels wasn't afraid, said her friend Phillip Reeves — it's just that her need to tell a story sometimes drove her to take risks that others wouldn't. And, Reeves said, it wasn't just her bravery that set Garrels' reporting apart from the rest of the pack. She had another great quality: empathy.
"I think at heart she loved people, actually. And that, in this day and age it's unusual, she gave them time. She would sit down with people and really talk through what had happened to them. So, when you were sitting next to her when she was doing that, you often saw a whole story unfold that you didn't realize was there, because Annie's imagining what it's like to be them," he said.
Those same qualities that made Anne Garrels a great reporter, said Reeves, also made her a great friend who will be sorely missed.
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Transcript
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
We have some sad news about a friend and former colleague. Anne Garrels, longtime foreign correspondent for NPR, died today of lung cancer. She was 71 years old. Here at NPR, Garrels was known as a passionate reporter willing to go anywhere in the world at a moment's notice if the story required it. She was also a warm and generous friend to many. NPR's Lynn Neary has this remembrance.
LYNN NEARY, BYLINE: When Anne Garrels arrived at NPR in 1988, she already had a lot of experience under her belt - 10 years in television news at ABC, where she was bureau chief in both Moscow and Central America. Garrels made a strong impression on NPR's Deborah Amos.
DEBORAH AMOS: She was this glamorous television reporter who came here. She didn't dress like the rest of us in the beginning. And she'd had this long and remarkable career before she landed here. So she was this tough cookie who arrived. She was always braver than me, and I always understood that she was braver than me.
NEARY: That bravery led Garrels into many war zones. And when it came to covering wars, Garrels was there at the beginning...
ANNE GARRELS: Three columns of Russian troops continue to press toward Grozny in the largest military operation since the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989.
NEARY: ...In the middle of the battle...
GARRELS: There was a constant thud, thud, thud overnight. This morning, we heard warplanes flying low over the Iraqi capital.
NEARY: ...And at the peace table.
GARRELS: The atmosphere at this morning's signing ceremony was one of weary relief, not joy. Until just weeks ago, Croats and Muslims had been at war.
NEARY: Anne Garrels was the kind of reporter who would drive alone across a war zone if that's what it took to get the story. But in a 2003 interview with NPR's Susan Stamberg, Garrels insisted she was not a war junkie.
GARRELS: I didn't set out to be a war correspondent. It just - the wars kept happening.
NEARY: Indeed, as NPR's Ted Clark, one of her former NPR editors, remembers it, Garrels was a prolific reporter with a seemingly endless curiosity about the world.
TED CLARK: She went everywhere. She was on every continent. I looked at her stories on the NPR archives, and there were 90 pages and on all kinds of subjects, not just political, not just military, but social, artistic, cultural.
PHILIP REEVES: I never worked with Annie on a story that she wasn't passionate about.
NEARY: NPR's Philip Reeves worked with Garrels on many stories from Iraq to Pakistan. But he first met Garrels in Moscow. Reeves says Garrels had a deep love and understanding of Russia.
REEVES: And she also had this extraordinary ability to really understand the way Russian people think. Unlike a lot of reporters who just go out there and collect quotes and then relay them to their editors, Annie could actually get right inside the minds and hearts of people. And that's what made her an incredible reporter. And I think she was particularly impressive in Russia.
NEARY: As much as Anne Garrels loved Russia, she is probably best known for her reporting during the 2003 Iraq War. Garrels was one of a handful of foreign reporters who remained in Baghdad as the war began. As she told NPR's Susan Stamberg, she used a satellite phone for her reports and went to great lengths to conceal it from Iraqi authorities.
GARRELS: And then I had decided that it would be very smart if I broadcast naked so that if, God forbid, the secret police were coming through the rooms, it would give me maybe five minutes to answer the door, pretend I'd been asleep, you know, sort of go, I don't have any clothes on. And it would give me maybe a few seconds to go hide the phone.
NEARY: Garrels later wrote about her wartime experiences in Iraq in a book called "Naked In Baghdad." NPR's Deborah Amos, who also reported from the Iraqi capital, remembers one time when Garrels wanted to do a piece about cemetery workers in Najaf.
AMOS: This was at the height of the killing, and it was terrible in Baghdad and frightening. And so Annie went rolled in a carpet in the backseat of a car through the worst neighborhoods so that she would not be visible. The piece was beautiful. And no one, of course, except for all of her colleagues, knew what it took for her to do that.
GARRELS: The rituals haven't changed for a thousand years, and jobs here are handed down father to son. A body washer, whose family has worked here for as long as anyone can remember, carefully scrubs the corpse of an old man so he will go to God as clean as a newborn.
NEARY: It's not that Garrels wasn't afraid, says her friend Philip Reeves. It's just that her need to tell a story sometimes drove her to take risks that others wouldn't. And Reeves says, it wasn't just her bravery that set Garrels' reporting apart from the rest of the pack. She had another great quality - empathy.
REEVES: I think at heart, she loved people, actually. And that, in this day and age, is unusual. She gave them time. She would sit down with people and really talk through what had happened to them. So when you were sitting next to her when she was doing that, you often saw a whole story unfold that you didn't realize was there because Annie's imagining what it's like to be them.
NEARY: Those same qualities that made Anne Garrels a great reporter, says Reeves, also made her a great friend who will be sorely missed. Lynn Neary, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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