Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/09/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: NPPA general membership announcements <marketing@nppa.org> Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 15:12:01 -0400 (EDT) Subject: NPPA: A Message from Dirck Halstead about Eddie Adams To: drb@mit.edu A MESSAGE TO THE NATIONAL PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS: By Dirck Halstead Eddie Adams is dying. Normally, this would be whispered. In this case, there is no point. Eddie has ALS - "Lou Gehrig's Disease." It isn't his fault. He didn't do anything to get it. It just happens. It is terminal. Period. He first noticed the symptoms a year ago; since then, his decline has been inexorable. He has the kind that starts in his head, as opposed to the variety that killed Black Star's Howard Chapnik, which started in his feet. The good news is that by starting in the head, the disease gives the victim a lot less time to suffer. He is now on a respirator. He is fully cognizant, and would do anything to go to the Eddie Adams Workshop next month. I doubt he will. He can't talk anymore. His vocal cords are frozen. So he can't take phone calls. The Digital Journalist (http://digitaljournalist.org) will devote much of its October issue to Eddie's work and life. My only hope is that he will still be able to see it. For Eddie, news photography has been his life. There was never a fiercer competitor. I know - I was on the other end. Two decades ago, he decided to establish the Eddie Adams Workshop. Its purpose was to train young photojournalists and take them to the next level. He leaned on his friends at Kodak and Nikon to fund it. He has probably been a greater influence in shaping young photographers' lives than anyone I can think of. When funding was short, Eddie reached into his own pocket to make these workshops happen. Many young photographers don't even know who he is. Let me make it simple. He took the picture that changed the course of the Vietnam War: General Loan shooting a VC who had just killed some of Loan's men. Eddie hated that picture. He knew Loan, and walked through the dangerous streets of 1968 with him. In later years, Eddie spent a lot of time with the general. But there were so many other pictures - the Vietnam refugee boatlift, pictures of America in transition, and the years of covers for PARADE of virtually every major cultural icon we have. Thousands of you owe Eddie a card. Don't wait. Just send one today, telling him how you feel. However, please do not send get-well cards, or maudlin messages. Just send Eddie words of warm appreciation or remembrances. This is one of those chances to express appreciation that rarely comes in a person's life. If you don't do it, you will join his everlasting SHIT LIST. (I know. I have been on it for years!) Send cards to: Eddie & Alyssa Adams 538 East 11th Street New York, N.Y., 10009 *************************************************** Dirck Halstead is the Editor and Publisher of The Digital Journalist, the online monthly magazine for photojournalism. He received the NPPA's Joseph Sprague Award this year for his lifetime contributions to photojournalism. _____________________________________________________ Sent to drb@mit.edu To manage your preferences follow this link: http://app.bronto.com/x/manage.php?id=1214434_323c9028_33303 Powered by Bronto http://bronto.com