-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Olsen, Lise Sent: 2000. siječanj 11 18:34 To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: FW: Murder of Larry Lee Larry Lee -- A long-time member of the IRE and a truly wonderful guy, was just murdered in Guatemala. I'm posting this to the list to let friends and acquaintances know what has happened. It's unclear whether his murder was related to a robbery or whether it was made to look that way. Larry was a huge help in the IRE's efforts in Mexico to help establish a network of investigative reporters in Latin America. He'll be sorely missed. In case you're wondering if he's the Larry Lee you know -- Larry had worked in Stuart, FL; El Paso and San Antonio, Texas and in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. A scholarship for MU has been established in his name. Below is info about that as well as related stories that have been published about his killing. I'm forwarding the information that was forwarded to me from Ron Mader, a collegue in Mexico City. I only wish this was news that I didn't not have to report. Lise Olsen Seattle Post-Intelligencer (formerly of IRE-Mexico) >Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 07:27:23 -0600 >To: e-latin >From: Ron Mader <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Murder of Larry Lee >Cc: >Bcc: >X-Attachments: > >Greetings/Saludos > >It is with tremendous sadness that I forward a message from Bob >Foos, who just informed me that Larry Lee - a US journalist living >in Guatemala - was murdered in late December. Larry was a good >friend and this news arrives as a brick. > >A Memorial Scholarship Fund has been set up. Donations can be made >to the Larry Lee Memorial Scholarship, c/o Ripley County State Bank, >P.O. Box 249, Doniphan, MO 63935; phone: 573-996-2114 > >If anyone or any group is looking into this matter, please keep me updated. > > - Ron > > >Forwarding message: > >by Bob Foos >EDITOR, WEBB CITY SENTINEL > "Who would want to kill Larry Lee?" is the question being >asked by his family in Southeast Missouri and friends across the >nation and internationally. > Larry, assistant editor of The Webb City (Missouri) Sentinel >from November 1985 to August 1986, was found stabbed to death in his >Guatemala City apartment on Dec. 28. U.S. diplomats are assisting >police investigators trying to determine the motive and who >committed the murder. Guatemala's Foreign Press Club has condemned >the killing and called on authorities to fully investigate the crime. > Larry was working as a correspondent for BridgeNews, a >worldwide financial news network. He began freelance work for >BridgeNews in August 1998, and according to Tony Ralf, managing >editor for Canada and Latin America, he proved to be an invaluable >resource. After five months, he was promoted to full-time reporter. > Larry's passions were journalism, Spanish and traveling. True >to his desire for exploring new horizons, he was planning to move to >Mexico in February. > Ralf said Larry frequently spoke of his love of covering >Latin America. At the time of his initial interview with BridgeNews, >he said until he returned to Latin America, he would not realize his >full potential. "Larry provided depth and breadth to BridgeNews >coverage of Guatemala, especially news in the coffee market." > Larry didn't realize his interest in journalism until after >he earned his bachelor's degree in a non-related field of study from >the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. His hometown newspaper, >The Prospect-News in Doniphan, Mo. (located near Poplar Bluff) gave >him the opportunity to test his instinct. > He found out about the opening here by sneaking a look at a >job-finder newsletter for graduates of the University of Missouri >School of Journalism. > Larry was so bright he could have excelled in practically any >career. He was a humble member of Mensa International, the >organization for people whose IQs are in the top 2 percent of the >population. > During his short time here, though, he became hooked on >journalism. He enrolled in the master's degree program at the >University of Missouri School of Journalism. > As he became one of the leading journalism students in >Columbia, he influenced an undergraduate, Laurie Shaffer, who later >became The Sentinel's fifth assistant editor. "He was definitely the >person I admired most while going to MU and knowing that he had >worked at The Sentinel was what impressed me most about my new job >when I first started there." > Larry completed his degree with a series of stories exploring >the economic hardship of people in Missouri's Bootheel region. The >stories ran in The St. Louis Post and The Columbia Missourian. They >also earned him the Robert F. Kennedy Award, which he accepted from >Ethel Kennedy in Washington, D.C. > Larry liked warm weather, as you can tell from his newspaper >experience. He worked at the Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith, >Ark., The Memphis (Tenn.) Commercial Appeal, The Knoxville (Tenn.) >News-Sentinel, The El Paso (Texas) Herald-Post, The San Antonio >(Texas) Express-News and Stuart (Fla.) News. > His personal goal while working in the United States was to >save enough money to live in Central America while becoming fluent >in Spanish and until he could support himself. He had lived in >Honduras and Nicaragua as well as Guatemala. He had taught English >to bilingual secondary school students in addition to reporting. > Ralf said, "Larry was committed to Central America and >Guatemala, exerting the energy and savvy one needs to make it in >journalism there. One of his journalism professors said that of the >students he has taught during 25 years, he expected Larry to be one >of a select few to bring home a Pulitzer one day." > > >OBITUARY >Larry Lee >Oct. 16, 1958 - Dec. 28, 1999 > A memorial service for Larry Dale Lee will be held at 1 p.m. >today in Edwards Funeral Home, Doniphan, with the Rev. Wade Rogers >officiating. > Mr. Lee, 41, was born on Oct. 16, 1958, in Rockford, Ill. He >died of stab wounds on Dec. 28, 1999, in his apartment in Guatemala >City, Guatemala. > He was raised in Doniphan, Mo. and graduated from Doniphan >High School in 1976. He was a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church in >Doniphan. > He is survived by his mother, Vera Lewis, Phoenix, Ariz.; his >father, Lehman Lee, Doniphan; a sister, Janine Lee Zerger, Paducah, >Ky.; two brothers, James Dennis Lee, Doniphan, and Scott Lee, Prior >Lake, Minn.; two nephews and a niece; and countless friends from >every place he's lived. > > >The Prospect-News, Jan. 5, 2000 >Community mourns loss of Larry Lee > A Doniphan, Mo. native was found murdered Tuesday, Dec. 28, >in Guatemala City, Guatemala. > Larry Lee, 41, was a reporter for Bridge News financial wire >service. He had lived in Guatemala for about a year. > A janitor found Lee's body after a friend said Lee was not >answering his doorbell. > An Associated Press story reported Lee had been stabbed >several times, but details remain sketchy about the circumstances >about his death. > Tony Ralf, Bridge's managing editor for Canada and Latin >America, said in New York, "We're basically ourselves waiting for >confirmed details." Anything else, Ralf said, is speculation. > According to a friend of Lee's who saw him in Guatemala City >two weeks ago, Lee had just quit his job with the wire service and >was preparing to move to Mexico City. > He reported on coffee and sugar futures and had covered the >elections in Guatemala just before his death. > Bobbi Nodell, a writer for MSNBC.com, said Lee was selling a >number of items before his move and advertised them in his >neighborhood. > Nodell disputed the report that Lee lived in an affluent neighborhood. > Guatemala City, she said, is divided into zones. Lee lived in >Zone 1, which she said residents considered dangerous. > "I knew right away it was a robbery," Nodell said. "Where he >was living, people just didn't have any money." > She said she learned while in Guatemala to walk fast and not >look at anyone. Nodell said while she was there, she carried her >money in her shoe. > Lee's apartment building, Nodell said, did not have any security. > Two weeks ago, Nodell said, she had arranged to meet Lee on >an excursion to climb a volcano, but Lee never showed up. > He had been robbed at the bus station that day, Nodell said. > Another colleague, Myrle Croasdale, who works for Bridge >News, said in addition to losing his money, Lee's glasses were >broken in the robbery. > Lee "had a new computer system... thousands of dollars of >computer equipment," Croasdale said. > Croasdale said she guessed someone saw Lee's advertisements >and came to the apartment, an idea Nodell also suggested. > She said there were few guns in Guatemala City, but many >carried long knives and machetes. > Nodell said Lee was leaving journalism and was considering >options with Habitat for Humanity or Global Exchange, a San >Francisco-based organization that aids indigenous peoples, after a >trip to Belize and the ancient Mayan ruins in Guatemela. > "He said he wanted to do something for people," Nodell said. > Lee won the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in >1988 for a series on poverty in the Bootheel that appeared in the >St. Louis Post Dispatch in 1987. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *__ ___ _ ___ __ ___ _ _ _ __ /'_|'0 \'V'/'\|'|'__|'|'|'/'_| \_'\''_/\'/|'\\'|'_||'V'V'\_'\ |__/_|'.//'|_|\_|___|\_n_/|__/ http://mprofaca.cro.net/latest.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FREE ADVICE FROM REAL PEOPLE! XpertSite is the biggest directory of Experts on the Web. For a REAL PERSON who will be happy to answer your questions! http://click.egroups.com/1/472/0/_/7016/_/947654769/ eGroups.com Home: http://www.egroups.com/group/spynews/ http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications
