Webb, Kate

▪ 2008

Catherine Merrial Webb 

      New Zealand-born journalist

born March 24, 1943, Christchurch, N.Z.

died May 13, 2007, Sydney, Australia

in her role as a reporter (1967–71) and Phnom Penh bureau chief (1971–77) for United Press International (UPI), was one of the few women war correspondents to cover the Vietnam War. After studying philosophy at the University of Melbourne (B.A., 1964), she worked as a secretary and cub reporter for the Sydney Daily Mirror. In 1967, however, she flew to Saigon and offered her services to UPI as a freelance correspondent. Captured in Cambodia by North Vietnamese forces in April 1971, Webb was reported to have been killed but unexpectedly emerged from the jungle after 23 days as a captive. She later recalled this harrowing experience in On the Other Side: 23 Days with the Viet Cong (1972). From 1977 Webb worked for British publications and Agence France-Presse, reporting on wars, coups, and other civil strife in such places as Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Iraq, Indonesia, and East Timor. She announced her retirement in 2001.

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