Elizabeth Neuffer

I just learned that an old journalist friend of mine died a year ago in Iraq in a car accident.

In the last two years of my period living in Budapest, 1994-1995, I was the offical correspondent for the Boston Globe, and Elizabeth was the Europe bureau chief. In fact, she was the whole bureau, covering the continent from Portugal to Yugoslavia.

In fact, I only met her in person once or twice, but we talked numerous times on the phone. I was relatively inexperienced working for a real newspaper, and she was always helpful in areas such as advising me on crafting my story pitches and even stories for the editors back in Boston, as well as negotiating the politics of the paper. Although constantly harried in terms of her work schedule, she was consistently cheerful, ready with a chummy laugh and generous in big-sisterly mentorship.

In subsequent years, I would hear her periodically giving interviews on NPR shows from places including Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. I'm very sorry to hear belatedly that her brave, warm and intelligent voice has been silenced forever.