Michael Kelly | |
---|---|
Born |
Michael Thomas Kelly March 17, 1957 Washington, D.C. |
Died | April 3, 2003 Outside of Baghdad, Iraq |
(aged 46)
Cause of death | War-related vehicular accident |
Resting place | Mt. Auburn Cemetery Hibiscus Path, Lot no. 10740 42°22′20.7″N 71°8′44.3″W / 42.372417°N 71.145639°W |
Residence | Swampscott, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Education | Gonzaga College High School |
Alma mater | University of New Hampshire |
Occupation | Journalist and author, columnist, editor |
Years active | 1983-2003 |
Known for | Reporting during the Gulf Wars |
Notable work |
Martyrs' Day: Chronicles of a Small War (1993) & Things Worth Fighting For: Collected Writings (2004) |
Spouse(s) | Madelyn (née Greenberg) Kelly; 2 children |
Parent(s) | Thomas V. and Marguerite (née Lelong) Kelly |
Awards | Martha Albrand Award; National Magazine Awards |
Website | kellyaward |
Michael Thomas Kelly (March 17, 1957 – April 3, 2003) was an American journalist for The New York Times, a columnist for The Washington Post and The New Yorker, and a magazine editor for The New Republic, National Journal, and The Atlantic. He came to prominence through his reporting on the first Gulf War, and was well known for his political profiles and commentary, but suffered professional embarrassment for his role in the Stephen Glass scandal at The New Republic. Kelly was the first US journalist to be killed while covering the invasion of Iraq, in 2003.
During a journalism career that spanned 20 years, Kelly received a number of professional awards for his book on the Gulf War and his articles, as well as for his magazine editing. In his honor, the Michael Kelly Award for journalism was established, as well as a scholarship at his alma mater.
Born in Washington, D.C., Kelly followed both of his parents into journalism. His mother is Marguerite (Lelong) Kelly, a columnist of "The Family Almanac" for The Washington Post, and his father was Thomas Vincent Kelly (August 2, 1923 – June 17, 2010), a political and features reporter for The Washington Star, which was formerly The Washington Daily News, and later for The Washington Times.
Kelly attended Gonzaga College High School and graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in History from the University of New Hampshire, where he worked on the college newspaper, The New Hampshire. He met his future wife Madelyn Greenberg, a producer at CNN and CBS News, during the 1988 presidential election while they were both assigned to the Dukakis campaign. Later Greenberg was assigned to the Gulf War and Kelly followed, working on his own reporting project; the couple married in 1991.