Steven Vincent

Steven Vincent was art writer and reporter. Born in 1956 he was of Armenian descent.

Vincent had contributed to Art + Auction magazine, Art in America and the New York Times. He was long attracted to the life and traditions of the Middle East, writing about Shi'ite culture also for Harper's magazine and many other publications.

He was recruited by Bruce Wolmer, longtime editor of Art + Auction magazine, and became a first-rate art journalist, whose command of details in investigative pieces was second to none.

But 9/11 changed everything for Vincent, a longtime resident of the East Village, NY. He was determined to go to Iraq in service to both his country and to the truth. Vincent was a classic liberal activist of the old school, he spent three tours of journalistic duty in Iraq with no protection other than his pen.

His book In the Red Zone was a classic of naked on-the-ground shoe-leather journalism.

Vincent was shot and killed after he was abducted in Basra in Iraq on July 2, 2005.

Some commentators have pointed out that his op-ed piece in the New York Times in which he questioned the Shi'ite control of Basra led directly to his assassination.

Vincent was 49 and as friends described he was a unique, stubborn, confrontational, intellectually curious soul.

Sources

• STEVEN VINCENT, 1956-2005, Artnet, NY]], August 4, 2005