Wikipedia

Nate Thayer

American journalist (1960–2023)

Nathaniel Talbott Thayer (21 April 1960 – 3 January 2023) was an American journalist. His writing focused on politics. He is best known for interviewing Pol Pot, the former dictator of Cambodia, in 1997.

Nate Thayer
Born
Nathaniel Talbott Thayer

(1960-04-21)April 21, 1960
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Diedc. January 3, 2023(2023-01-03) (aged 62)
Falmouth, Massachusetts, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationJournalist

Early life and education

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Thayer was born on 21 April 1960 in Washington, D. C.[1][2] His father was politician Harry E. T. Thayer, his uncle was lawyer Robert S. Pirie, and his great-uncle was politician Adlai Stevenson II.[2][3][4]

Thayer studied at the University of Massachusetts Boston but did not get a degree.[5]

Career

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Thayer is best known for interviewing Pol Pot and Kang Kek Iew. Pol Pot was the dictator of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 while Kang Kek Iew was the chief of the S-21 prison from 1976 to 1979. Both were responsible for the Cambodian genocide. Thayer had moved to Cambodia in 1991 to write for the Far Eastern Economic Review and spent years trying to get an interview with Pol Pot. In July 1997, Thayer attempted to get an interview but did not. He was told he could only get an interview once Pol Pot's trial, which had just begun, would end.[6][7] In October, he returned and got an interview with Pol Pot. In this interview, Pol Pot denied that a genocide happened in Cambodia. He defended himself against Thayer. In April 1999, Thayer and photographer Nic Dunlop interviewed Kang Kek Iew to prove that he was responsible for the murders at S-21.[8]

Thayer filmed footage of Pol Pot's trial. Thayer agreed to give the footage to ABC News on their show Nightline. According to Thayer, ABC News took credit for his footage and spread it more than he had agreed to. He was nominated for a Peabody Award for his work with ABC News, but declined it because he did not want to share the award with them.[9]

Pol Pot died in April 1998. Thayer helped transport his body for cremation.[10][11] Thayer believed that Pol Pot committed suicide instead of dying naturally.[12]

Thayer also wrote on the 2010 Bangkok Redshirt riots, the January 6 United States Capitol attack, the politics of Thailand, North Korea, and Iraq, and on far-right white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Oath Keepers.[13][14] He wrote for Soldier of Fortune, Associated Press,[15] The Phnom Penh Post,[16] and wrote a five-piece article about the Iraq War for Slate.[17][18][19][20][21]

Personal life

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Thayer moved to Cambodia in 1991 and returned to the US in 2000. He lived in Falmouth, Massachusetts.[2]

Thayer had a dog named Lambot.[2] According to Thayer, white supremacists threatened to decapitate his dog due to his writings about them.[22]

Thayer was hospitalized several times for malaria while living in Cambodia. He was almost killed by a landmine in Cambodia in 1989. Because he was around so much gunfire and explosions, he developed hearing problems. He also used drugs and alcohol. In a Facebook post in August 2022, Thayer said he was "old and crippled" and had "two strokes, two heart attacks, two bouts with Covid, sepsis infections which went viral and left me with heart and other damage.”[2]

Thayer was found dead at his home on 3 January 2023 at the age of 62 by his brother Robert. The exact day he died is unknown.[2]

References

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  1. ↑ Gourevitch, Philip (August 18, 1997). "The Talk of the Town, 'Ink,'". The New Yorker. p. 25. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Mydans, Seth (January 6, 2023). "Nate Thayer, Bold Reporter Who Interviewed Pol Pot, Dies at 62". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  3. ↑ Roberts, Sam (January 29, 2015). "Robert Pirie, 80, Lawyer and Banker in Mergers and Takeovers, Dies". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ "2014 Spring Magazine by Westover School – Issuu". March 28, 2014.
  5. ↑ Mydans, Seth (January 6, 2023). "Nate Thayer, Bold Reporter Who Interviewed Pol Pot, Dies at 62". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  6. ↑ Thayer, Nate (August 1, 1997). "Pol Pot, I Presume". The Wall Street Journal.
  7. ↑ Thayer, Nate (August 7, 1997). "Journalist Nate Thayer was on the scene in Cambodia recently when Pol Pot, the leader of the guerrilla force, the Khmer Rouge, was sentenced to life imprisonment in a show trial". NPR (Interview). Interviewed by Terry Gross. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  8. ↑ Dunlop, Nic (2006). The Lost Executioner: A Journey to the Heart of the Killing Fields. New York: Walker.
  9. ↑ Heyboer, Kelly (September 1997). "A Journalistic Coup Turns Sour". American Journalism Review. pp. 10–11. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  10. ↑ Sharpless, Gordon (July 2000). "Anlong Veng: Normalcy returns to the former Khmer Rouge stronghold". Tales of Asia (2005 ed.). Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  11. ↑ Vittachi, Nury (October 1, 2009). "A brief history of FEER". mrjam.typepad.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Killing fields leader 'killed himself'". BBC News. January 21, 1999. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  13. ↑ Kuhn, Anthony (January 6, 2023). "Nate Thayer, rebel reporter who interviewed Pol Pot in the Cambodian jungle, has died". NPR. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Ku Klux Klown: The Racist Behind the Pro-Confederate Flag Demonstration Is Hated Even by Other Klansmen". Vice. July 18, 2015. Archived from the original on July 20, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  15. ↑ Thayer, Nate (September 13, 1989). "Aid Workers Flee as Cambodia Fighting Intensifies". Associated Press.
  16. ↑ Kuhn, Anthony (January 6, 2023). "Nate Thayer, rebel reporter who interviewed Pol Pot in the Cambodian jungle, has died". NPR. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  17. ↑ Thayer, Nate (March 19, 2003). "A Live Report From Baghdad". Slate. Archived from the original on February 21, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  18. ↑ Thayer, Nate (March 22, 2003). "The Bombing of Baghdad". Slate. Archived from the original on January 25, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  19. ↑ Thayer, Nate (March 24, 2003). "Baghdad Gets Scarier". Slate. Archived from the original on February 21, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  20. ↑ Thayer, Nate (March 24, 2003). "More American Bombs, and More Iraqi Defiance". Slate. Archived from the original on February 21, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  21. ↑ Thayer, Nate (March 28, 2003). "The Road From Baghdad". Slate. Archived from the original on February 2, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  22. ↑ Thayer, Nate (October 18, 2009). "The Ku Klux Klan threatened to decapitate my dog: How political extremists are a pain in the ass". Nate-Thayer.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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