Ryszard Kapuscinski, R.I.P. 3/4/1932- 1/23/2007

I just learned that Ryszard Kapuscinski passed away last month. Kapuscinski is one of my all- time favorite writers. He was a journalist who wrote like a poet. That is what I have said for years and only now that he has passed away do I learn that he wrote poetry as well. Go read this obituary at The Guardian to learn more about him: http://books.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1997953,00.html. First thing when I get to the bookshop on Friday I'm going to order a bunch of Kapuscinski's titles. I'm ashamed to say that I'm terrible about making sure the shop has copies of my favorite books. There are lots of reasons, but none that good. I discovered Kapuscinski at the bookshop years before I started working there. Anyone who loves reading beautiful, clear, imagistic, non-fiction prose should go find some Kapuscinski. I bet they have some titles hanging around over at 'The South's Greatest Bookstore' if you are down with navigating the publisher organization system. Heck, I bet the Durham Library has at least one or two Kapuscinski titles. I first read and fell in love with Imperium, his book of essays about traveling around the U.S.S.R.; The Soccer War is wonderful, describing Kapuscinski's experiences covering the 1969 war between El Salvador and Honduras whose flames were fanned by the two national football teams playing each other in World Cup qualifying; the last thing of his I read was In the Shadow of the Sun, which is an amazing portrait of Africa as seen by Kapuscinski over many years of reporting. Undoubtedly the world has lost one of its most wonderful chroniclers. May we all enjoy well what he left us. Hell, we could probably even learn a thing or two if we read him well enough.