Daoud Lecture Presents Iraq Kidnapping Survivor’s Tale
Posted Tuesday, March14, 2006

Reported by Jake Weber

ALBION, Mich. – Journalists Micah Garen and Marie-Hélène Carleton, authors of “American Hostage: The Story of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq and the Remarkable Battle to Win His Freedom,” recount their dramatic personal story at Albion College Wednesday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. in the College’s Baldwin Alumni Hall.

The pair’s presentation is sponsored by the 2006 Daoud Family Lectureship in Middle Eastern Studies, and cosponsored by the Law, Justice and Society Concentration, the Women's and Gender Studies Committee, and the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Public Policy and Service.

Carleton will further address "The Changing Face of the Middle East: How War, Politics, and Democratic Change Are Impacting the Role of Women in the Middle East,” as the College’s 2006 Anna Howard Shaw lecturer, on Thursday, March 30, at 11 a.m. in Bobbitt Auditorium.

Photographers, writers, and filmmakers Garen and Carleton spent a year in Iraq shooting a documentary about the looting of the Iraqi National Museum. Filming was nearly complete when Garen was kidnapped. “American Hostage” relates both Garen's and Carleton's actions and feelings during Garen’s confinement, along with insightful analysis of the political situation that led to the kidnapping.

Garen and Carleton continue to report on Middle East issues, and appear on a wide variety of network and cable news programs. Their work has appeared in Newsweek, the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, the Financial Times, and Science and Archaeology magazines. “American Hostage” was a 2005 bestseller.

The Daoud Family Lectureship in Middle Eastern Studies was created by Detroit businessman Tarik S. Daoud and his family, to promote a better understanding of Middle Eastern history, peoples, and cultures, and of the crucial role the Middle East plays in today’s world. The series brings to campus speakers with expertise on different aspects of this diverse and fascinating region.

Iraqi native Daoud is the owner of Al Long Ford in Warren and Shamrock Ford-Lincoln-Mercury in Clinton. He has long been an active leader in the Detroit business community, was a founding member of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce and is a previous recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Detroit News’s Michiganian of the Year award.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Albion College Communications office, 517/629-0445 or marvoy@albion.edu.