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Mike O’Connor, Advocate for Mexican Journalists, Dies at 67 Mike O’Connor, Advocate for Mexican Journalists, Dies at 67
(about 13 hours later)
Mike O’Connor, a longtime foreign correspondent who had worked in recent years to protect journalists in Mexico, died on Sunday in Mexico City. He was 67.Mike O’Connor, a longtime foreign correspondent who had worked in recent years to protect journalists in Mexico, died on Sunday in Mexico City. He was 67.
His death was confirmed by the Committee to Protect Journalists, where he worked as the representative for Mexico. He died from a fatal heart attack while sleeping in his apartment, according to the Los Angeles Times. His death was confirmed by the Committee to Protect Journalists, where he worked as the representative for Mexico. The Los Angeles Times reported that he died from a heart attack while sleeping in his apartment.
Mr. O’Connor had been an outspoken advocate for journalists in Mexico, one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a reporter in the last five years. He challenged government officials to do more to protect journalists and to prosecute their deaths in a country where the crimes often go unpunished. Mr. O’Connor was an outspoken advocate for journalists in Mexico, one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a reporter in the last five years. He challenged government officials to do more to protect journalists and to prosecute their deaths in a country where such crimes often go unpunished.
He understood the rigors of foreign reporting after working in Central America, the former Yugoslavia and Israel for various news organizations, including National Public Radio and The New York Times. A veteran foreign reporter, he had worked in Central America, the former Yugoslavia and Israel for National Public Radio, The New York Times and other organizations.
His death will leave a void in the campaign for safety for Mexican journalists, said Javier Garza Ramos, the former editor of the Mexican newspaper El Siglo de Torreon, which was attacked in 2011 by gunfire and a car set on fire. “Mike’s presence was essential during a crisis,” Mr. Garza Ramos said in a blog post by the Committee to Protect Journalists. “In the rush to take protective measures, Mike’s phone calls, several times a day, were not only a reminder that we were not alone, but a guide amid confusion.” His death leaves a void in the campaign for Mexican journalists’ safety, said Javier Garza Ramos, a former editor of the Mexican newspaper El Siglo de Torreón, which was attacked in 2011 when gunmen fired shots at the paper’s building and set a car on fire.
Mike O’Connor was born in Germany on Feb. 8, 1946. His father was the director of a large refugee camp there after World War II. “Mike’s presence was essential during a crisis,” Mr. Garza Ramos said in a Committee to Protect Journalists blog post. “In the rush to take protective measures, Mike’s phone calls, several times a day, were not only a reminder that we were not alone, but a guide amid confusion.”
In a 2009 memoir called, “Crisis, Pursued by Disaster, Followed Closely by Catastrophe: A Memoir of Life on the Run,” Mr. O’Connor investigated his unusual upbringing in Texas and Mexico, in which his parents sometimes made the family flee their home on short notice without explanation. Mr. O’Connor was born in Germany on Feb. 8, 1946. His father was the director of a large refugee camp there after World War II.
Mr. O’Connor started his career in 1983 as a CBS News correspondent covering the wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua. He then covered Central America for National Public Radio and reported from the former Yugoslavia for The New York Times in the 1990s. In his 2007 memoir, “Crisis, Pursued by Disaster, Followed Closely by Catastrophe: A Memoir of Life on the Run,” Mr. O’Connor discussed his unusual upbringing in Texas and Mexico. His parents, he wrote, sometimes made the family flee their home on short notice without explanation.
He later returned to NPR where he reported from Israel and the Palestinian territories. In 1994, he was part of a team of NPR reporters that won an Overseas Press Award for best radio spot news for a piece on Haiti. Mr. O’Connor began working for CBS News in 1983, covering the wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua. He then covered Central America for National Public Radio and, in the late 1990s, reported from the former Yugoslavia for The New York Times. He later returned to NPR, where he reported from Israel and the Palestinian territories.
In 1994 he was part of a team of NPR reporters that won an Overseas Press Award for best radio spot news for a piece on Haiti.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Mr. O’Connor is survived by his wife, Tracy Wilkinson, that newspaper’s Mexico bureau chief, as well as two sons, two sisters, two half-brothers and two granddaughters.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 1, 2014

An earlier version of this obituary misstated the year Mr. O’Connor’s book “Crisis, Pursued by Disaster, Followed Closely by Catastrophe: A Memoir of Life on the Run” was published. It was 2007, not 2009.