Interview: Kim Barker On “The Taliban Shuffle”— Her Candid And Witty Memoir

Kim Barker in Khost police truck: Photo by Kuni Takahashi

By Pamela Burke

Kim’s ProPublica Article
on BP Oil Spill–4/13/11
Twitter: Kim_Barker

Kim Barker chronicles her exciting career as a foreign correspondent doing “The Taliban Shuffle” between Afghanistan and Pakistan in a new book published this week.   If you like insightful and darkly funny tales of modern warfare, this is the book for you.

“You have to weigh the benefits with the potential for danger. It was always worth it.”   Kim

As South Asia Bureau Chief for the Chicago Tribune, Kim was based in this volatile region for five years from 2004-2009.    With a self-described wicked sense of humor, she gives an insider’s view of the horror, adsurdities, and realities of her life as an intrepid reporter who grew to love her war zones.

It is a brutally honest book  for those who want a no holds barred account of a reporter’s life in this infinitely complex region.  Once I read it,  I couldn’t wait to talk to Kim, an incomparable adventure junkie, whose opening line is “I had always wanted to meet a warlord.”    

Interview: Gayle Lemmon On The Amazing Dressmaker of Khair Khana

Twitter: gaylelemmon

UPDATE 3/14/11:  Gayle launches her new book in New York

UPDATE 3/7/11:  Gayle wrote the Newsweek cover story on Hillary Clinton’s War for Women’s Rights

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a reporter extraordinaire when it comes to covering the women of Afghanistan.  Few journalists have Gayle’s tremendous insight and knowledge of the important issues affecting women there.   Her articles have appeared in a variety of publications including The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, CNN, and the New York Times.

“I want to shine a light on the true story of the tenacity and courage of these women…”                      Gayle Lemmon

Her exclusive story on Bibi Aisha, the teenager whose nose and ears were cut off in retaliation for her escape attempt from an abusive marriage in southern Afghanistan, gained international media attention.

Since 2005 she’s been researching women entrepreneurs in post-conflict economies.   Her book on one courageous survivor, The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, will be published mid-March.  A Publishers’ Weekly review says it “offers inspiration through the resourceful, determined woman at its heart.”

I interviewed Gayle about her powerful reporting last year.   In that article she described Kamila, the dressmaker,  as an amazing person whose business created jobs and hope for 100 women in her neighborhood during the Taliban years.

Gayle was determined to tell Kamila’s story.  I’ve wanted to find out more about this brave and intrepid woman ever since that last interview… 

Interview: Gayle Lemmon On The Remarkable Fighting Women Of Afghanistan

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a seasoned journalist who has been reporting and researching the economic and living conditions of women in Afghanistan since 2005.  I read her heartbreaking story in “The Daily Beast” recently about Bibi Aisha, an Afghan teenager whose nose and ears were cut off by an uncle when she tried to escape from an intolerable marriage.    Another article about an 11-year-old bride who was sold to a Kabul family and escaped was equally powerful and disturbing.

Gayle was a producer with ABC News for nearly ten years, a Fulbright scholar, and is the Deputy Director of the Women and  Foreign Policy Program.    Next year her book about women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan and other war-torn countries will be published.  To find out more about Gayle’s background, visit her website.

“People do not often hear stories about how hard women are fighting to create something better for the next generation.” Gayle Lemmon

Recently  Gayle responded to my questions  about her reports from Afghanistan and her own career in journalism…