Name this US gonzo photographer / muhajadeen fighter / heroin addict?

[luckyjimm]

I remember enjoying this book by Robert Bingham, scion of a rich Kentucky newspaper family who became a reporter for a daily paper in Cambodia, was similarly fearless/foolhardy, and who died of a heroin overdose as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Sun-Nove...5691&sr=8-1

http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/m...t-bingham.html

But the absolute classic of gonzo journalism / addiction / adrenaline / death is The Bang Bang Club. It tells the story of four photographers in Apartheid South Africa, two of whom died. The most famous was Kevin Carter - you've probably seen his photo of a vulture sitting waiting for a small African child to die.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang-Bang_Club

There's something very interesting for me in reading about these sorts of lives. In our staid office lives, we rarely ever get a rush of adrenaline or feel danger. So I like reading about people who have been so intensely alive but who saw more of death, too. In extreme situations they produced their best and most creative work.