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Following the 2014 murder of her son James Foley by ISIS militants in Syria, Diane Foley turned her anger and grief into a positive change, fighting for journalism safety and advocating on behalf of Americans held hostage around the world. Now, in her new book American Mother, co-authored with the National Book Award winner Colum McCann, Foley tells her personal story, and the path of pain and forgiveness inspired by her son’s legacy. The book is bracketed by an unforgettable scene in which Foley confronts one of her son’s murderers, Alexanda Kotey, the British national and ISIS member, who pled guilty to the terrible crime.
Join Foley and Joel Simon, founding director of the Journalism Protection Initiative at the Newmark J-School, for an intimate conversation about the book, Foley’s quest for justice, the challenges of journalists covering conflict, and the efforts to bring home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held for nearly a year in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison.
Diane M. Foley is the co-founder of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. She and Simon first met in 2014 following her son’s kidnapping, when Simon was the executive director of CPJ. Simon’s 2019 book We Want to Negotiate: The Secret World of Kidnapping, Hostages and Ransom, chronicles the evolution of American hostage policy and Foley’s role in bringing about dramatic reform.
The event is co-sponsored by the Journalism Protection Initiative and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Following Foley’s death, CPJ established its Emergencies Team to deal with crisis situations and provide journalists with lifesaving safety information. The discussion will be followed by questions from the audience and books will be available for purchase.