Lee Lockwood
Encyclopedia
Lee Jonathan Lockwood was an American
photojournalist
best known for his coverage of Communist leaders behind the Iron Curtain
during the Cold War
era. He interviewed Cuba
n leader Fidel Castro
and spent nearly a month in North Vietnam
during the Vietnam War
.
and became interested in photography
as a child. He earned an undergraduate degree in 1954 from Boston University
with a major in comparative literature
and later attended Columbia University
. He served in the United States Army
during the 1950s, where he was stationed in Germany
. After leaving military service, he traveled widely around the world, with his photographs being distributed by the Black Star
photo agency.
to racial issues in the United States. Lockwood's book, Castro’s Cuba, Cuba's Fidel: An American Journalist's Inside Look at Today's Cuba in Text and Picture, published by Macmillan Publishers
, was intended to give American readers a clearer picture of the Cuban leader, saying, "If he is really our enemy, as dangerous to us as we are told he is, then we ought to know as much about him as possible".
journalist to visit the country in nearly a decade. He traveled around the country during his month-long visit, covering 1,000 miles under the strict supervision of government minders who ensured that he didn't photograph any of the nation's military facilities.
While there, the North Vietnamese presented a confession read by Lt. Cmdr. Richard A. Stratton
, a United States Navy
pilot
who had been shot down months earlier. Stratton, who was described by Lockwood as "looking like a puppet" whose "eyes were empty", read a prepared text in which he attacked U.S. military action in the region. The photos that Lockwood took on the trip became the material for "North Vietnam Under Siege", an article that appeared in the April 7, 1967, edition of Life
magazine, including a widely-distributed picture of Stratton in prison garb
bowing deeply as ordered by a North Vietnamese officer, as well as an array of pictures of the countryside and the effects of American bombing missions. Robert J. McCloskey
of the U.S. Department of State
cited Lockwood's material about Stratton as evidence that North Vietnam was brainwashing
prisoners for propaganda
purposes.
Other books written by Lockwood include Conversation With Eldridge Cleaver: Algiers (McGraw-Hill
, 1970), a biographical portrait of radical intellectual and author Eldridge Cleaver
, and Daniel Berrigan: Absurd Convictions, Modest Hopes — Conversations After Prison With Lee Lockwood (Random House
, 1972), a biography of Daniel Berrigan
, a peace activist
and Catholic
priest who had been one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives
.
A resident of Weston, Florida
, Lockwood died at age 78 in Tamarac, Florida
on July 31, 2010, due to complications of diabetes. He was survived by his wife, the former Joyce Greenfield, as well as by a daughter, a son and six grandchildren.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
photojournalist
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...
best known for his coverage of Communist leaders behind the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
era. He interviewed Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n leader Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
and spent nearly a month in North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Biography
Lockwood was born on May 4, 1932, in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and became interested in photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
as a child. He earned an undergraduate degree in 1954 from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
with a major in comparative literature
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
and later attended Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. He served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during the 1950s, where he was stationed in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. After leaving military service, he traveled widely around the world, with his photographs being distributed by the Black Star
Black Star (photo agency)
Black Star is a New York City-based photographic agency that offers photojournalism, corporate assignment photography and stock photography services worldwide....
photo agency.
Interview with Castro
During a trip to Cuba in 1965, Lockwood was able to arrange a lengthy interview with leader Fidel Castro, during which they discussed topics ranging from the Cuban Missile CrisisCuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
to racial issues in the United States. Lockwood's book, Castro’s Cuba, Cuba's Fidel: An American Journalist's Inside Look at Today's Cuba in Text and Picture, published by Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers (United States)
Macmillan Publishers USA, also known as Macmillan Publishing, is a privately held American publishing company owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than 30 others....
, was intended to give American readers a clearer picture of the Cuban leader, saying, "If he is really our enemy, as dangerous to us as we are told he is, then we ought to know as much about him as possible".
Visit to North Vietnam
Having obtained a visa while in Cuba, Lockwood arranged a trip to North Vietnam in 1967, making him the first WesternWestern world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
journalist to visit the country in nearly a decade. He traveled around the country during his month-long visit, covering 1,000 miles under the strict supervision of government minders who ensured that he didn't photograph any of the nation's military facilities.
While there, the North Vietnamese presented a confession read by Lt. Cmdr. Richard A. Stratton
Richard A. Stratton
Lieutenant Commander Richard Allen "Dick" Stratton was a United States Navy pilot who was shot down over North Vietnam in January 1967 and detained as a prisoner of war. During his captivity, Stratton read a five-page statement criticizing American involvement in Southeast Asia, which led to...
, a United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
who had been shot down months earlier. Stratton, who was described by Lockwood as "looking like a puppet" whose "eyes were empty", read a prepared text in which he attacked U.S. military action in the region. The photos that Lockwood took on the trip became the material for "North Vietnam Under Siege", an article that appeared in the April 7, 1967, edition of Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine, including a widely-distributed picture of Stratton in prison garb
Prison uniform
A prison uniform is any uniform worn by individuals incarcerated in a prison, jail or similar facility of detention.-Nazi Germany:During the Nazi period of Germany, interned people in the concentration camp system were often made to wear prisoner's uniforms.-Convict era:In the United Kingdom,...
bowing deeply as ordered by a North Vietnamese officer, as well as an array of pictures of the countryside and the effects of American bombing missions. Robert J. McCloskey
Robert J. McCloskey
Robert James McCloskey was born November 25, 1922 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – son of Thomas McCloskey and Anna Wallace; died November 28, 1996 in Chevy Chase, Maryland...
of the U.S. Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
cited Lockwood's material about Stratton as evidence that North Vietnam was brainwashing
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
prisoners for propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
purposes.
Other books written by Lockwood include Conversation With Eldridge Cleaver: Algiers (McGraw-Hill
McGraw-Hill
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Its primary areas of business are financial, education, publishing, broadcasting, and business services...
, 1970), a biographical portrait of radical intellectual and author Eldridge Cleaver
Eldridge Cleaver
Leroy Eldridge Cleaver better known as Eldridge Cleaver, was a leading member of the Black Panther Party and a writer...
, and Daniel Berrigan: Absurd Convictions, Modest Hopes — Conversations After Prison With Lee Lockwood (Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, 1972), a biography of Daniel Berrigan
Daniel Berrigan
Daniel Berrigan, SJ is an American Catholic priest, peace activist, and poet. Daniel and his brother Philip were for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for their involvement in antiwar protests during the Vietnam war....
, a peace activist
Peace activist
This list of peace activists includes people who proactively advocate diplomatic, non-military resolution of political disputes, usually through nonviolent means.A peace activist is an activist of the peace movement.*Jane Addams*Martti Ahtisaari...
and Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
priest who had been one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture of the...
.
A resident of Weston, Florida
Weston, Florida
Weston is a suburb of South Florida located in Broward County, Florida, USA. Established as a city in 1996, much of the community was developed by Arvida/JMB Realty and is located near the western developmental boundary of Broward County. It is the most western city in Broward County, and its...
, Lockwood died at age 78 in Tamarac, Florida
Tamarac, Florida
Tamarac is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,427. It is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census....
on July 31, 2010, due to complications of diabetes. He was survived by his wife, the former Joyce Greenfield, as well as by a daughter, a son and six grandchildren.