LIFETIME journalists often call it a day with a book to recap their adventures, record their memories and, most importantly, leave a learning-curve legacy for future generations. Veteran newsman Denis Gray, former Bangkok Bureau chief of the Associated Press, has done just that. His autobiography, Lost Horizons, is a captivating history spanning 50 years of change, a monumental panoramic journey from the aftermath of war-torn Europe to the brutal killing fields of Cambodia to his exclusive interactions with the Thai Royal Family, the ravages of mass tourism, the changing media landscape, and the perils of “American exceptionalism”.
Lost Horizons is a life story, a travelogue, memoir, novel and a geopolitical treatise all rolled into one. In smooth-flowing prose, free of diplomatic niceties and academic jargon, Mr. Gray opens up about his access to inner sanctums of decision-making, connects the before-and-after dots, analyses what he often heard being said in public against what transpired in reality. Imbued with a melancholy, almost despairing tone of sadness, the book is as much about Lost Horizons as it is about Lost Opportunities.
Mr. Gray says he began writing book in his late 70s. He is now 82. At this stage, he has nothing to lose. Hence, the book’s real value lies in its powerful takeaway messages for the current and future generations, Americans at home and abroad, academics, journalists, diplomats, corporate and military professionals, technocrats, Travel & Tourism executives and most important of all, leaders across all fronts. Each chapter deserves to be studied in corporate boardrooms, military academies and universities.
“In Lost Horizons, I try to make sense of it all as best I can,” Mr. Gray writes. I tell my story and those of others – not only people, but cities, countries and conflicts – through imperfect eyes. I chose not to present these accounts as a strictly chronological narrative but by subject and theme. In doing so, I hope to have captured the unique period in history during which I lived, loved and lost.”
This excerpt from the Introduction describes his purpose in his own words:
“My youth was marked by the threat of American bombs and communist executioners in Czechoslovakia and culminated in the halcyon Paris of the 1960s. My retirement has been spent in a tranquil valley in the hills of northern Thailand. In between, I lived the unpredictable life of a foreign correspondent. Through six turbulent decades, I was offered front row seats – and foxholes -so I could report on political upheavals, war and even some Hollywood movie stars. Most importantly, I witnessed the courage of uncelebrated human beings facing tragedies that most of us would see as unbearable. Along this winding road, I have experienced both consuming love and the anguishing loss of many comrades. I have observed, especially in Asia, the heartbreaking erosion of centuries-old cultures and immaterial heritage as well as the vast destruction of natural environments.
“In my late 70s, at the urging of friends and colleagues, I finally sat down to write not only my own story but the story of those people and places I have loved and lost. Lost Horizons draws on the extensive diaries I have kept since I was 10 years old, as well as on my recollections, reflections, and the articles I wrote from the 40 countries where I reported
“What initially moved me to recount episodes from my life was the war in Cambodia in the 1970s. This conflict’s surrealism and brutality, the camaraderie and unfathomable stoicism of its people and the deep bonds I forged remain seared in my mind to this day. The Cambodian reporters and photographers who worked alongside me and who I came to adore were the bravest men I have known.”
Mr. Gray’s personal and professional life was deeply influenced by his childhood in post-war Europe. His family suffered the pain of World War II, was uprooted from a country under an authoritarian communist regime and then found freedom and prosperity in the United States. He himself underwent military training and served in the Vietnam War before stumbling into journalism. He went from studying and fighting wars to covering them. No surprise, then, that one of his most dominant themes is the devastating consequences of war in terms of human life, destruction and money.
At its core, Lost Horizons is a love story — love for the people and places in his life. Like all love stories, it is full of highs and lows. Mr. Gray has seen Asia from all angles, an Asia of mild- mannered, easygoing people and an Asia of genocidal violence, an Asia of rich culture and heritage and an Asia of corrupt bureaucrats and rapacious real-estate developers, an Asia of dreams and hopes and an Asia of pain and peril. He has interviewed kings and environmentalists, trekked the majestic Himalayas and the pristine forests of Borneo. He has stayed in luxury hotels and survived in muddy foxholes.
Timing-wise, the book’s release is perfect. With America’s role on the global stage under scrutiny, Mr. Gray’s reflections on his own country of adoption are worth considering. Although he owes the US a lot, he has neither lived nor worked in the United States since 1975. These quotes may explain why….
Equally insightful is the chapter on the Thai Royal Family, especially on Mr. Gray’s interactions with His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX). He is one of only a small handful of foreign journalists given access to the late King, and arguably the only one to have interviewed both him and the current His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) Here are a few passages…
I read Lost Horizon as a student of history. I also discovered we have much in common. I share Mr. Gray’s love for the culture and heritage of Asia and faith in honest journalism as a check-and balance force for change. We both began our careers in 1973, him in the United States, me in the Gulf state of Kuwait. He came to Thailand in 1975, me in 1978. We first met in 1979 when I became a member of the FCCT. We both rue the deterioration of the independent media landscape at the hands of corporations and technology. We have both travelled extensively throughout Asia and the Middle East, him to cover wars and conflicts, me to cover Travel & Tourism as a force for change. In our younger days, we both sported a luxuriant mustache.
We had another thing in common. Mr. Gray does not mention it, but in his spare time, he was a travel writer for Thai Airways International’s inflight magazine Sawasdee, accompanied by veteran photographer John Everingham. Like me, Mr. Gray has seen many Asian destinations change over time. He acknowledges the articles helped put them on the map but he regrets them becoming victims of unintended consequences. He accepts some responsibility for this.
The title Lost Horizons itself signals a pessimistic view that all is LOST. Perhaps not. A detailed study of the book will raise many valid questions: Why so much death and destruction in this age of unmatched scientific and technological progress? Why do countries emerge from wars and conflict and then fall victim to corruption and environmental degradation? Why do people hail the greatness of their leaders and then fail to heed their words of wisdom? Why does the rich-poor income gap continue to grow? Why do people who have the least say at decision-making tables suffer the most from the negative consequences of those decisions? And finally, why do the decision-makers walk free?
In trying to make sense of it all, Mr. Gray is hoping good sense may still prevail. If the questions can be seriously raised and debated across multiple multi-sectoral forums, there is a good chance that the Horizons may not be Lost after all.
Today, Mr. Gray seeks to live out the rest of his life in peace and quiet, in the midst of rice fields of North Thailand, in the company of low-income but happy-go-lucky indigenous villagers and a three-ton elephant he has grown to love. But he fears that even North Thailand too may become a Lost Horizon. He recalls reading with some consternation that the well-known travel publication Lonely Planet has given Chiang Mai a high rating as a place to visit.
He knows exactly what is likely to happen next….
Mr. Gray’s book launch event at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand can be watched here …
