Sydney-trained Webb

The New Zealand-born, Sydney-trained Webb first went to Vietnam in 1967 and spent more than six years covering the war for UPI, building a reputation for brave and honest reporting and insightful writing.

After the war's end, she worked throughout Asia for UPI and later Agence France Presse, following the news and covering some of the region's biggest stories from South Korea to Afghanistan and a half-dozen other countries, as well as Iraq during the first Gulf War.

After covering the fall of the Suharto regime in Indonesia in 1998, she retired from journalism in 2001, saying she felt "too old to keep up with front line reporting, and that was the only kind I liked."

Webb, who lived the hard-drinking, chain-smoking lifestyle of her journalistic generation to the hilt, returned to her family's adopted home of Australia, where she lived in relative seclusion on the Hunter River north of Sydney.

Webb was born in 1943 in New Zealand and moved with her family to Australia's national capital, Canberra, as a child.She graduated from Melbourne University with a philosophy-related degree, but ended up as a cub reporter at the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid Daily Mirror in Sydney.

She quit the paper at age 23 and went to Vietnam, ending up with UPI.She became one of the few women to cover the war full-time.Colleagues remembered her as courageous but not foolhardy, empathetic, dedicated and a perfectionist.
...
Webb was given up for dead after officials said a body had they found and cremated was probably hers, prompting front page news reports and an obituary in the New York Times.

But after more than three weeks, she phoned the UPI office in Phnom Penh and emerged from the jungle, writing later about days spent crammed in stifling bunkers followed by all-night marches, with almost no food.

She suffered a near-fatal bout of malaria after the ordeal, and faced death other times too.She was badly injured in a motorcycle accident in India, and later badly beaten by a militia member in Kabul who whacked her head against a floor and tore a clump of hair out by the roots.

"People always think I must be so tough to survive all this," Webb told an interviewer from the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong in 2002."But I'm a real softie.
...
Webb, who never married, will be cremated in Australia before being scattered over the harbor in Wellington, New Zealand, in accordance with her wishes, her brother said.

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The New Zealand-born, Sydney-trained Webb first went to Vietnam in 1967 and spent more than six years covering the war for UPI, building a reputation for brave and honest reporting and insightful writing.

After the war's end, she worked throughout Asia for UPI and later Agence France Presse, following the news and covering some of the region's biggest stories from South Korea to Afghanistan and a half-dozen other countries, as well as Iraq during the first Gulf War.

After covering the fall of the Suharto regime in Indonesia in 1998, she retired from journalism in 2001, saying she felt "too old to keep up with front line reporting, and that was the only kind I liked."

Webb, who lived the hard-drinking, chain-smoking lifestyle of her journalistic generation to the hilt, returned to her family's adopted home of Australia, where she lived in relative seclusion on the Hunter River north of Sydney.

Webb was born in 1943 in New Zealand and moved with her family to Australia's national capital, Canberra, as a child.She graduated from Melbourne University with a philosophy-related degree, but ended up as a cub reporter at the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid Daily Mirror in Sydney.

She quit the paper at age 23 and went to Vietnam, ending up with UPI.She became one of the few women to cover the war full-time.Colleagues remembered her as courageous but not foolhardy, empathetic, dedicated and a perfectionist.
...
Webb was given up for dead after officials said a body had they found and cremated was probably hers, prompting front page news reports and an obituary in the New York Times.

But after more than three weeks, she phoned the UPI office in Phnom Penh and emerged from the jungle, writing later about days spent crammed in stifling bunkers followed by all-night marches, with almost no food.

She suffered a near-fatal bout of malaria after the ordeal, and faced death other times too.She was badly injured in a motorcycle accident in India, and later badly beaten by a militia member in Kabul who whacked her head against a floor and tore a clump of hair out by the roots.

"People always think I must be so tough to survive all this," Webb told an interviewer from the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong in 2002."But I'm a real softie.
...
Webb, who never married, will be cremated in Australia before being scattered over the harbor in Wellington, New Zealand, in accordance with her wishes, her brother said.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.All Rights Reserved.)

The New Zealand-born, Sydney-trained Webb first went to Vietnam in 1967 and spent more than six years covering the war for UPI, building a reputation for brave, honest reporting and insightful writing.

After the war's end, she worked throughout Asia for UPI and later Agence France Presse, covering some of the region's biggest stories from South Korea to Afghanistan and half-dozen other countries, as well as Iraq during the first Gulf War.

After covering the fall of the Suharto regime in Indonesia in 1998, she retired from journalism in 2001, saying she felt "too old to keep up with front-line reporting, and that was the only kind I liked."

Webb, who lived the hard-drinking, chain-smoking lifestyle of her journalistic generation to the hilt, returned to her family's adopted home of Australia, where she lived in relative seclusion on the Hunter River north of Sydney.

Webb was born in 1943 in New Zealand and moved with her family to Australia's national capital, Canberra, as a child.She graduated from Melbourne University with a philosophy-related degree, but ended up as a cub reporter at the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid Daily Mirror in Sydney.

She quit the paper at age 23 and went to Vietnam, ending up with UPI.She became one of the few women to cover the war full-time.Colleagues said she was courageous, empathetic, and dedicated.
...
Webb was given up for dead after officials said a body had they found and cremated was probably hers, prompting front page news reports and an obituary in The New York Times.

But after more than three weeks, she emerged from the jungle and phoned the UPI office in Phnom Penh, writing later about days spent crammed into stifling bunkers and all-night marches, with almost no food.

She struggled with the attention that came from the ordeal preferring to be in the field reporting or among her drinking buddies rather than in the limelight.
...
"People always think I must be so tough to survive all this," Webb told an interviewer from the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong in 2002."But I'm a real softie.
...
Webb, who never married, will be cremated in Australia before being scattered over the harbor in Wellington, New Zealand, in accordance with her wishes, her brother said.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.All Rights Reserved.)

The New Zealand-born, Sydney-trained Webb first went to Vietnam in 1967 and spent more than six years covering the war for UPI, building a reputation for brave, honest reporting and insightful writing.

After the war's end, she worked throughout Asia for UPI and later Agence France Presse, covering some of the region's biggest stories from South Korea to Afghanistan and half-dozen other countries, as well as Iraq during the first Gulf War.

After covering the fall of the Suharto regime in Indonesia in 1998, she retired from journalism in 2001, saying she felt "too old to keep up with front-line reporting, and that was the only kind I liked."

Webb, who lived the hard-drinking, chain-smoking lifestyle of her journalistic generation to the hilt, returned to her family's adopted home of Australia, where she lived in relative seclusion on the Hunter River north of Sydney.

Webb was born in 1943 in New Zealand and moved with her family to Australia's national capital, Canberra, as a child.She graduated from Melbourne University with a philosophy-related degree, but ended up as a cub reporter at the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid Daily Mirror in Sydney.

She quit the paper at age 23 and went to Vietnam, ending up with UPI.She became one of the few women to cover the war full-time.Colleagues said she was courageous, empathetic, and dedicated.
...
Webb was given up for dead after officials said a body had they found and cremated was probably hers, prompting front page news reports and an obituary in The New York Times.

But after more than three weeks, she emerged from the jungle and phoned the UPI office in Phnom Penh, writing later about days spent crammed into stifling bunkers and all-night marches, with almost no food.

She struggled with the attention that came from the ordeal - preferring to be in the field reporting or among her drinking buddies rather than in the limelight.
...
"People always think I must be so tough to survive all this," Webb told an interviewer from the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong in 2002."But I'm a real softie.
...
Webb, who never married, will be cremated in Australia before being scattered over the harbor in Wellington, New Zealand, in accordance with her wishes, her brother said.

The New Zealand-born, Sydney-trained Webb first went to Vietnam in 1967 and spent more than six years covering the war for UPI, building a reputation for brave, honest reporting and insightful writing.

After the war's end, she worked throughout Asia for UPI and later Agence France Presse, covering some of the region's biggest stories from South Korea to Afghanistan and half-dozen other countries, as well as Iraq during the first Gulf War.

After covering the fall of the Suharto regime in Indonesia in 1998, she retired from journalism in 2001, saying she felt "too old to keep up with front-line reporting, and that was the only kind I liked."

Webb, who lived the hard-drinking, chain-smoking lifestyle of her journalistic generation to the hilt, returned to her family's adopted home of Australia, where she lived in relative seclusion on the Hunter River north of Sydney.

The New Zealand-born, Sydney-trained Webb first went to Vietnam in 1967 and spent more than six years covering the war for UPI, building a reputation for brave, honest reporting and insightful writing.

After the war's end, she worked throughout Asia for UPI and later Agence France Presse, covering some of the region's biggest stories from South Korea to Afghanistan and half-dozen other countries, as well as Iraq during the first Gulf War.

After covering the fall of the Suharto regime in Indonesia in 1998, she retired from journalism in 2001, saying she felt "too old to keep up with front-line reporting, and that was the only kind I liked."

Webb, who lived the hard-drinking, chain-smoking lifestyle of her journalistic generation to the hilt, returned to her family's adopted home of Australia, where she lived in relative seclusion on the Hunter River north of Sydney.

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The New Zealand-born, Sydney-trained Webb first went to Vietnam in 1967 and spent more than six years covering the war for UPI, building a reputation for brave, honest reporting and insightful writing.

After the war's end, she worked throughout Asia for UPI and later Agence France Presse, covering some of the region's biggest stories from South Korea to Afghanistan and half-dozen other countries, as well as Iraq during the first Gulf War.

After covering the fall of the Suharto regime in Indonesia in 1998, she retired from journalism in 2001, saying she felt "too old to keep up with front-line reporting, and that was the only kind I liked."

Webb, who lived the hard-drinking, chain-smoking lifestyle of her journalistic generation to the hilt, returned to her family's adopted home of Australia, where she lived in relative seclusion on the Hunter River north of Sydney.

The New Zealand-born, Sydney-trained Webb first went to Vietnam in 1967 and spent more than six years covering the war for UPI, building a reputation for brave, honest reporting and insightful writing.

After the war's end, she worked throughout Asia for UPI and later Agence France Presse, covering some of the region's biggest stories from South Korea to Afghanistan and half-dozen other countries, as well as Iraq during the first Gulf War.
...
Webb, who lived the hard-drinking, chain-smoking lifestyle of her journalistic generation to the hilt, returned to her family's adopted home of Australia.

After working at the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid Daily Mirror in Sydney after Melbourne University, Webb quit the paper at age 23 and went to Vietnam.Ending up with UPI, she became one of the few women to cover the war full time.

In April 1971, she was among six people captured while covering a battle in Cambodia.Webb was given up for dead after officials said a body they had found and cremated was probably hers, prompting front page news reports and an obituary in The New York Times.

But after more than three weeks, she emerged from the jungle and phoned the UPI office in Phnom Penh, writing later about days spent crammed into stifling bunkers and all-night marches, with almost no food.

The New Zealand-born, Sydney-trained Webb first went to Vietnam in 1967 and spent more than six years covering the war for UPI, building a reputation for brave and honest reporting and insightful writing.

After the war's end, she worked throughout Asia for UPI and later Agence France Presse, following the news and covering some of the region's biggest stories from South Korea to Afghanistan and a half-dozen other countries, as well as Iraq during the first Gulf War.

After covering the fall of the Suharto regime in Indonesia in 1998, she retired from journalism in 2001, saying she felt "too old to keep up with front line reporting, and that was the only kind I liked."