Dr. Tom M. Sutherland This is Me

Education

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1. 1. www.denverpost.com

   www.denverpost.com/entertainme - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/25/2008   Last Visited: 1/25/2008

   Humanity held hostage: Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson
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   Humanity held hostage: Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson
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   From left, Robert Reid as the Irishman and Charlie Ferrie as the Englishman in Bas Bleu's "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me." It's based on Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson's fellow Beirut captives, Brian Keenan and John McCarthy. (Richard Mauro Ricchiuti )
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   > if(requestedWidth Tom Sutherland, left, and Terry Anderson
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   As fellow Beirut hostages Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson sat bound to a wall in near- total darkness year after endless year, they told stories to keep each other alive.
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   Sutherland, the Colorado State University prof, in turn taught Anderson agricultural science and French.
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   "If it hadn't been for Terry, I probably would have committed suicide," said Sutherland, who was a dean at the American University in Beirut when he was kidnapped by Iranian- backed Shiite Hezbollah terrorists wanting U.S. military forces out of the bloody Lebanese civil war.
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   Anderson, speaking from his home in Ohio, joined Sutherland on a conference call to talk about their captivity, the bond that still tethers them in ways far mightier than any chain, and their common disgust with the Iraq war.
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   Sutherland served as consultant on productions of the play by the Denver Center Theatre Company and University of Northern Colorado.
   
   The message of the play is now the mantra of these men: When one man unjustly imprisons any other, he holds not only the human hostage, but humanity itself.
   
   "It's about what a trauma it is to be kidnapped, but how it's possible to survive with humor and argumentation and by supporting each other," Sutherland said.
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   Anderson, now 60, and Sutherland, 76, have a much less sympathetic opinion of their captors.
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   Sutherland believes they were cowards, and that if not for the guns, "every last one of them would have skedaddled out of there."
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   After his release, Sutherland returned to Fort Collins and served as professor emeritus at CSU for a period of life the genial Scotsman jovially refers to as his "extended vacation paid for by the Shah of Iran" , after being awarded $35 million in frozen Iranian assets.
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   Anderson and Sutherland empathize with anyone of any nationality thrust into the struggle to maintain one's humanity in an inhumane situation.
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   Audio exclusive: More with Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson
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   Listen to further excerpts from John Moore's conversation with Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson.
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   Humanity held hostage: Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson
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   Humanity held hostage: Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson

2. 2. www.coloradoan.com

   www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.d - [Cached]

   Published on: 11/5/2007   Last Visited: 11/5/2007

   For those who don't know Tom Sutherland's story: It started June 9, 1985, when Sutherland, dean of agriculture at the American University in Beirut, was kidnapped after gunmen attacked his car as he drove in a convoy from Beirut airport.
   
   Islamic militants with ties to Iran held the Colorado State University professor hostage for more than six years. He was released Nov. 18, 1991, after 2,354 days in captivity.
   
   He sued Iran in federal court and in late 2001 was awarded $53 million - $23.5 million to Sutherland, $10 million to his wife and $6.5 million to each of his three daughters.
   
   After legal fees and the like, the family received roughly $37 million.
   
   From it was born the Sutherland Family Foundation that gives away between $50,000 and $75,000 a year to about 50 nonprofits in Larimer County and elsewhere.
   
   Though Sutherland "paid dearly for the money," he said it is now a "wonderful opportunity to help" the community.
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   Local philanthropist Tom Sutherland sits in his office Monday. The Sutherland Family Foundation has contributed to efforts involving KUNC-FM, Bas Bleu Theatre and Inspiration Playground

3. 3. Building Consensus

   www.staronline.org/newswinter9 - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/29/1999   Last Visited: 10/13/2004

   Presented by Thomas Sutherland, Ph.D.
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   The question is: Of what importance to STAR is the story of Thomas Sutherland, former Beirut hostage?
   
   Lebanon was a battleground, but resident Americans still felt secure in their academic and professional worlds. Just going about their daily business was the secret. Tom Sutherland, as a department head of American University, was involved in curriculum matters, professorial duties and administrative headaches.
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   Tom is a vibrant testament to the tenacity of the human spirit. The stories of his imprisonment are fascinating, inspiring and full of candor.
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   Inspirational people, like Tom Sutherland, help remind us of the way.