[Tlc] C-Passing of Dith Pran

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Dear All,

As most of you have heard, Dith Pran passed away today. Although I am not a scholar of Cambodia Studies, I was touched by Dith Pran. When I was 19, I decided to undertake a historical study of the Khmer Rouge for my senior thesis at Boston College. I was a Classics Major (focus on Latin literature), but I was so inspired by the life of Dith Pran and members of the Cambodian Refugee community I had met in Boston in 1992, that I decided to switch majors and poured myself into research on Cambodia. I called Dith Pran at his office in New York and without asking for any honorarium or travel expenses from Boston College, he agreed to drive to Boston, let me interview him for two hours, and give a public talk to history majors (and many other people who, of course, rushed to see him speak at the last minute). I was 19 year old Latin student, I didn't know a word of Khmer, had yet to take a course on Southeast Asian history, and still, Dith Pran took time out of his busy schedule to !
!
visit me and my institution. He was a great help in my research after that point. I valued his mentoring and kindness. I am sure that folks in Cambodia Studies who knew him much much better than I did, will have more substantive and important things to say about him and his career, but, I just thought I would selfishly take my chance to tell him "thank you again" in cyberspace. If not for Dith Pran, my life would probably consist of translating Cicero, and if you have ever read Cicero, you know that isn't much of a life.

See the announcement of his passing at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/31/cambodia.pressandpublishing

With regrets,
justin