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The obituary of Anthony McConnell
- By Anthony McConnell
- Trail Editor
- When someone close to me dies, I tend to spend a lot of time thinking about my own demise. I don’t think this is completely uncommon, as most people I know do the same thing. Where I differ is the depth in which I think about my own death. I ask myself questions like – how will I go out, how long will I live, will my death glorious or mundane, where will I be when I die, what will people say when they find out. You know stuff like that. What follows is my obituary.
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and photographer Anthony Ray McConnell of Cody, Wyo., died in Los Angeles, Calif. Aug. 31, while covering a riot for the New York Times. It was his 60th birthday.
“The Shakespearian irony wouldn’t have been lost on him,” said friend and Oscar-winning director Tyler Tracey. “He said this was his last job, but then again he said that so many times I’ve lost count. We were friends for close to 50 years. I know I should say something profound but words escape me … I will miss him. I wish I could say more.”
McConnell wrote and photographed for the NY Times, the Washington Post, Newsweek and Rolling Stone. He also wrote a syndicated humor column and reviewed movies, books and television for both Daily and Weekly Variety. He also received three Independent Spirit awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for his work as a screenwriter.
He is survived by his wife Anne Hathaway-McConnell, son Sinn-Fein and daughter Melancholy. Both Sinn-Fein and Melancholy followed in their father’s footsteps. Sinn-Fein is the youngest managing editor in the history of the New Republic and Melancholy is a bureau chief in China for the Associated Press.
In an e-mail to his wife sent the night before his death McConnell wrote, “This is going to be my last story, my love. I know I have said that before but after yesterday I don’t think I can do this any more, 30 years of seeing death and pain is more than a mind can take.”
He continued, “I love you so much and never want to be apart from you again. My heart aches for you even as my fingers grace this keyboard. I have one more interview at 10 a.m. then I am on a flight home. The riots are getting out of control and the Times wants me out of here, I pray I can it’s never been this bad the place is a power keg. Remember whatever happens, no regrets.”
McConnell signed in his usual fashion – “All good things, all good things.”
When asked for comment, Hathaway said, “I always knew it end like this. He never could resist a great story. I hate, hated and loved that about him.”
A memorial service for friends and family is planed for next week.
- Trail Editor