Blaine Harden (born 1952) is an American journalist and author. His 2012 book '' Escape from Camp 14'' is an official biography of North Korean defector

Shin Dong-hyuk Shin Dong-hyuk (born Shin In Geun, 19 November 1982 or 1980) is a North Korean-born human rights activist. He is reputed to be the only known prisoner to have successfully escaped from a "total-control zone" grade internment camp in North Kore ...

Journalism

Harden worked for 28 years for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' as a correspondent in Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as in New York and Seattle. Harden worked for 4 years as a local and national correspondent for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and a writer for the ''

Times Magazine ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

''. He has also worked as a reporter for ''

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

'', ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'', '' Foreign Policy'', '' National Geographic'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

Books

Harden's debut book was in 1990, called ''Africa: Dispatches from a Fragile Continent''. His second book was in 1996, titled ''A River Lost'' about the damming of the wild Columbia river and its ecological consequences. Harden and his book are featured in the PBS ''

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

'' program titled ''Grand Coulee Dam'', about the

Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerh ...

. His third book came out in 2012 titled ''Escape from Camp 14''. It is an official biography of North Korean defector

. In January 2015, Harden announced that Shin had admitted to lying about several aspects of his story. Harden's fourth book ''The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot'' was released in March 2015. It is a dual biography of

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

, the founder of North Korea and No Kum-sok, a defector who stole a MiG-15 and landed it in South Korea. Harden's fifth book ''King of Spies'' was released in October 2017. It is a biography of Air Force Major Donald Nichols, an intelligence officer who operated for 11 years in Korea before, during and after the Korean War. In 2021, Harden published ''Murder at the Mission'', which explores the truth behind the popular myths of the

Whitman massacre The Whitman massacre (also known as the Walla Walla massacre and referred to as the Tragedy at Waiilatpu by the National Park Service) was the killing of the Washington missionaries Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa, along with eleven others ...

Works

*1990 ''Africa: Dispatches from a Fragile Continent'' *1996 ''A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia'' *2012 ''Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West'' *2015 ''The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant Who Created North Korea and The Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom'' *2017 ''King of Spies: The Dark Reign of America's Spymaster in Korea'' *2021 ''Murder at the Mission''

Awards and honors

*1985

Livingston Awards for Young Journalists The Livingston Awards at the University of Michigan are American journalism awards issued to media professionals under the age of 35 for local, national, and international reporting. They are the largest, all-media, general reporting prizes in Ame ...

in International Reporting, fo
"Notes of a Famine Watcher"
(series), ''The Washington Post''. *1988 American Society of News Editors Awards for Non-deadline Writing (stories about Africa). *1992

National Journalism Awards The Scripps Howard Awards, formerly the National Journalism Awards are $10,000 awards in American journalism given by the Scripps Howard Foundation. As of 2022, the categories are: * Excellence in Coverage of Breaking News * Excellence in Broad ...

, Human Interest Writing Ernie Pyle Award, for coverage of the siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. *2012 Grand Prix de la Biographie Politique, ''Escape From Camp 14'' *2013 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, finalist, ''Escape From Camp 14''

References

External links

Blaine Harden
official website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harden, Blaine Living people American male journalists American non-fiction environmental writers American biographers American male biographers The Washington Post journalists The New York Times writers 1952 births Ernie Pyle Award winners