Lost Horizons

Living life on the edge - the memoir of a legendary AP war correspondent.

This is the remarkable life story of Denis D. Gray, born Zdenek Mecir in communist Czechoslovakia, who went on to a celebrated career as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press.

From the front lines of the Vietnam War and the 'Killing Fields' of Cambodia to foxholes in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gray chronicles eight decades of upheaval and resilience in this highly personal memoir. He reflects on a world of relentless change and fleeting beauty, torn between the urge to seek a quiet refuge—a 'lost horizon' of peace—and the irresistible pull of life on the edge.

In Lost Horizons, I try to make sense of it all as best I can. I tell my story and those of others—not only people but cities, countries and conflicts—through imperfect eyes. I chose not to present these accounts as a strictly chronological narrative but by subject and theme. In so doing, I hope to have captured the unique period in history during which I lived, loved and lost. - Denis D. Gray