To Tell the Truth

Reviews / Votes

It is a privilege to read the stories of a professional journalist present at so many hugely significant events in Asia over the decades.... Simons has many lessons to teach and wisdom to impart to journalists, including to be objective and leave the commentary to others; the facts will speak for themselves. That said, this supremely well-written and thoroughly captivating narrative is much more than "just the facts" reporting. Simons is a wonderful storyteller and this is an invaluable chronicle of the experiences of a foreign correspondent. It is also a boon for readers interested in the complex relationships between Asia and the U.S. from the 1960s through the 2010s. * Booklist * A skillfully written, organized and presented memoir that will be of special appeal to readers with an interest in journalism, "To Tell the Truth: My Life as a Foreign Correspondent" is an impressively informative and persona/professional account of the career and adventures of a war correspondent and a journalist investigating corruption and the tensions between the wealthy and the poor in various hot spots around the world. An informative and fascinating read, "To Tell the Truth: My Life as a Foreign Correspondent" will prove a welcome addition to community, college, and university library American Biography and Journalism Studies collections. * Midwest Book Review * Lew Simons' To Tell The Truth is the improbable, true, and captivating story of a New Jersey butcher's son who became an intrepid foreign correspondent covering five decades of wars, revolutions, upheavals and famines throughout Asia and the Middle East. With telling detail, Simons explores the thoughtless cruelty of the prosperous and rich who blind themselves to the desperately poor surrounding them, the abrupt collapse of abusive governments and their replacement by equally abusive regimes, and vividly recounts how his Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation for the San Jose Mercury News led to the downfall of the Marcos regime in The Philippines. A delightfully engaging read. -- David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and best-selling author How many reporters have helped topple a dictator? Lew Simons is one of the very few. A fascinating chronicle by one of America's best foreign correspondents, To Tell the Truth deftly weaves penetrating coverage of turbulent times with intimate family stories. A great book by a truly talented journalist. -- Tim Weiner, Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author of Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA As a young foreign correspondent in Asia three decades ago, I quickly learned a few things about Lew Simons. First, you didn't want to compete with him. Second, no one understood Asia - and America's misadventures there - better than Lew did. And finally, there was no more elegant writer, empathetic reporter or greater investigator. To Tell the Truth is a reminder of what a truly gifted reporter does: Dig, expose and explain in beautiful prose. No one does it better. -- David E. Sanger, The New York Times, author of The Perfect Weapon Doubtless the investigative stories and exposes of the San Jose Mercury News team can be called one of the greatest successes in the history of the internationally oriented Pulitzer Prizes. -- The Pulitzer Prize Archive (Published by De Gruyter Saur)