Flora Lewis, an American journalist and columnist whose probing analysis of international affairs appeared in newspapers for nearly six decades, died on Sunday. She was 79.
Lewis died of cancer at her home in Paris, according to The New York Times, which published Lewis’ obituary on its website on Sunday.
The Times was one of several papers for which she worked. Other media outlets included The Associated Press, The Washington Post and the International Herald Tribune.
Lewis was admired for her deep understanding of European affairs and her sense of the continuity of European history. She moved to Europe at the end of World War II and spent most of her life abroad, covering the Cold War, the fall of the Iron Curtain and European reconstruction.
She also ventured further afield for articles on the Middle East conflict and the war in Vietnam. Colleagues say she had a knack for noticing small, revealing details and then piecing them together into the big picture. She was known for her bright blue eyes, her no-nonsense demeanour and her ability to talk comfortably with anyone.
Despite her illness, Lewis continued writing articles for the New York Times Syndicate and the International Herald Tribune until a few months ago.
”As she got older she was tough, in the best sense of the word, and she didn’t take any nonsense,” said Jonathan Randal, a former Washington Post correspondent. ”She was very courageous about her disease, and she just basically ignored it.”
Lewis was born in 1922 in Los Angeles, and studied at the University of California at Los Angeles and at Columbia University’s journalism school, the Times said.
She started her career at The Associated Press in New York and went to London for the agency after World War II. She married Sydney Gruson, who worked for the Times, and the two travelled the world together before they divorced.
Because of a policy that prevented married couples from working for the paper, Lewis wasn’t able to write for the Times until the 1970s, colleagues said.
Lewis wrote five books, including ”Europe: Road To Unity,” and ”Europe: A Tapestry of Nations.”
France named Lewis a Knight of the Legion of Honour, and in 1999 she won a lifetime achievement award from the Overseas Press Club of America. The group said her ”determination, stamina and courage stand as a model to all journalists who would seek foreign postings.”
No information on funeral arrangements was immediately available. Lewis is survived by a son, Lindsey, and a daughter, Kerry. Another daughter, Sheila, died in 1999. – Sapa-AP