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August 3, 2005
Rest in Peace, Steven
In December, I learned through National Review of a journalist named Steven Vincent who had traveled to Iraq on his own dime and written a compelling account of his journey.
In January I discovered his blog and emailed him to ask some detailed questions about something I had recently read about Iraqi domestic politics. He got back to me in 24 hours with an equally detailed response. I thought that was very charitable of him. Shortly thereafter I invited him to write some guest posts here on Adventures and was flattered when he agreed. I was just a little ole blogger after all, and he was a published writer. We agreed that he would do four guest pieces for the weekend of the Iraqi elections.
During all of this, I really enjoyed working with Steven. He was extremely polite, had a great sense of humor, and was generally extremely nice to write guest posts on an insignificant little spot of the internet like mine. And, as anyone can tell, he was an excellent writer. When I asked him to do one post a day for the election weekend, he responded that I was quite a demanding editor. But he did three, and each is lovely.
This morning, Bill Roggio emailed me with the news that Steven was murdered in Basra. I can't begin to express the range of emotions I feel. I'm angry that the bastards killed him. I'm sad to have lost a friend, albeit one I didn't know very long or very well. And I'm heartbroken for his wife, Lisa. As he writes in the acknowledgments of his book, "without her courage and resolute assistance, my travels, this book, and the self-knowledge I gained from both would not have been possible."
Steven surely knew that his profession was a dangerous one. "I won't pretend I wasn't afraid -- actually, there were moments when my nerve seemed to fail me and I wondered what the hell I was doing leaving my comfortable position as an art journalist to venture off into a war."
Yet he went anyway, inspired by a friend of his who had gone "mainly to duplicate Homer's achievement, to create a body of art based on life in a war zone." When his friend returned and he heard his tales, he "kept hearing an inner voice challenging my complacency: Do you want to participate in this world-historical event? Participate! Do you want to enlist in the war against Islamofascism? Enlist! Do you want to help give meaning to the victims of 9-11? Go to Iraq!"
And go to Iraq he did, three times, all the while remaining independent, unedited and cut off from the mass of milquetoast reportage that normally characterizes our link to the fight.
Steven was an inspiration to me. He inhabits a long tradition of extremely independent observers who have looked upon world-changing events from afar and known that they must, must see them closer and be a part of what is happening. It is a grand tradition indeed -- de Tocqueville, John Steinbeck, Winston Churchill, Marco Polo -- these are but a few of these epic travel writers, who wrote about war, or faraway lands and their transfomations -- all from firsthand experience. I know that I do not exaggerate when I say that Steven's place in their noble numbers is certain.
In one of our last correspondences, I wrote him that "Marines should probably get to know more art critics." If I could write that again, I would add, "thanks for being my friend."
Rest in peace, friend, and know that you will not be forgotten.
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These are the guest posts Steven Vincent wrote here at The Adventures of Chester:
The Shadow of Karbala
A Prayer for Iraqis About to Vote
The Voting Rights Act, 2005
Going Forward
THE GOD COMPLEX I
THE GOD COMPLEX II
Posted by Chester at August 3, 2005 8:57 PM