John Roderick (correspondent)
John Roderick | |
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Born | Honolulu, Hawaii , United States | September 15, 1914
Occupation(s) | Author and journalist |
John Roderick (September 15, 1914
Roderick's career as a correspondent with the Associated Press spanned over fifty years, with postings in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.[2] Roderick reopened the Associated Press bureau in Beijing in 1979.[2] He continued to work with the AP as a special correspondent for the two decades following his retirement in 1984.[1]
Early life
John Roderick was born in Waterville, Maine, on September 14, 1914.[1] He was orphaned when he was just 16 years old.[2] His journalistic career began at the age of 15, when he began writing for a local newspaper, Waterville Morning Sentinel (now called The Central Maine Morning Sentinel).[2] He graduated from Colby College before joining the Associated Press office in Portland, Maine, in 1937.[2]
Roderick moved to the Associated Press' office in
China
Roderick remained in China as an Associated Press reporter after World War II. His first major postwar assignment was to cover the breakdown in relations between the Chinese nationalist
Roderick was 31 years old when he began living with leaders of the Chinese Communist rebel movement for seven months between 1945 and 1947.
Roderick lived at Ya'an (also called Yenan[1]) in the same way as everyone else, including the Communist leadership. He lived and slept in a tiny cave with a makeshift bed and a pillow filled with sand.[2] He filed his reports and typed out stories with a portable typewriter, which was next to a charcoal brazier.[3] He observed Mao Zedong and other leaders during meal times, dances and lectures, which he would later chronicle in his book, "Covering China."[3]
Roderick initially admired Mao Zedong and his supporters for their ideas saying, "I admired the fact that they were trying to do something for the poor Chinese."[2] However, unlike other reporters, such as Edgar Snow, Roderick was never a full supporter of their goals.[1] His opinion of Mao became much more negative following Mao takeover of China. Roderick disliked the brutality of Mao's rule which he observed, as well as the failure of many of his policies, such as the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s.[2] Roderick famously called Jiang Qing (Mme Mao) "that evil bitch" long before she became known as a key member of the Gang of Four during the 1970s.[1]
After he left Ya'an, Roderick covered the breakdown of peace talks between the Communists and the Kuomintang as well as the ensuing Chinese Civil War from Beijing.[2] He continued to cover the Chinese Civil War from Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing.[2]
In 1948, Roderick was sent by the Associated Press to the Middle East to cover the establishment of the state of Israel.[1] However, he remained engaged with China and its politics throughout his career. Though he often worked outside of China, he became known as a leading "China watcher" during the 1950s.[3] He often studied scraps of information and Chinese Communist government news dispatches for clues to what was going on behind the scenes in China.[2] Roderick though disliked to be called a "China watcher."[1]
British
Roderick was able to reopen the Associated Press bureau in Beijing in 1979, following the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China.[3] He became head of the Beijing bureau.[3]
Other AP assignments
Roderick was sent to the
He next went to
Roderick was posted to
Roderick was named an "Associated Press special correspondent" in 1977, becoming one of the AP's few reporters to hold the title.[2]
He returned to Tokyo in 1980 as a special correspondent, one year after reopening the AP's office in Beijing. He was given a great deal of creative and journalistic freedom to travel throughout Asia and report on stories of interest to him.[2]
Roderick reluctantly retired from active work at the Associated Press in 1984 at the age of 70.
Following his retirement, Roderick continued to write background stories on the Middle East and China.
Kamakura minka
Roderick owned a traditional Japanese farmhouse, called a minka, in the city of Kamakura. He documented the history of the home and his adopted Japanese family in his 2007 book Minka: My Farmhouse in Japan.
In 2007 filmmaker Davina Pardo began a documentary on Roderick inspired by the book. Before filming could begin Roderick fell ill and was unable to participate, and so Pardo relied on Yoshihiro Takishita to tell their story. The film was funded in part by Kickstarter, and was featured in 2015 in The New York Times.[6]
Death
John Roderick completed his last piece for the Associated Press, a personal reflection, in February 2008. He died of
Bibliography
- Minka: My Farmhouse in Japan (2007), ISBN 978-1-568-98731-6
- Minka, ma ferme au Japon (2022), Elytis, ISBN 978-2-35639-325-8, translated into French by Benjamin Aguilar-Laguierce
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "John Roderick, Veteran AP correspondent whose friendship with China's leaders helped to pave the way for Nixon's visit to Beijing". The Times. London. 2008-03-25. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- ^ Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- ^ Boston Globe. Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- ^ a b "John Roderick, 93; leading China watcher for AP". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 2008-04-01. Retrieved 2008-04-06. [dead link]
- ^ "Minka, ma ferme au Japon". Editions Elytis. Elytis. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ Pardo, Davina (19 March 2015). "In Japan, a Farmhouse Becomes a Journalist's Elegy". The New York Times.
External links
- The Times: John Roderick, Veteran AP correspondent whose friendship with China's leaders helped to pave the way for Nixon's visit to Beijing
- Minka ma ferme au Japon, French edition