Two-time Pulitzer prize finalist and three-time nominee for the prize, Filipino journalist Romeo Gacad died on Saturday evening. He was aged 62, reported Rappler.
Gacad’s siblings– Raha, Bianca, and Sabrina – said their father, an Agence France Presse’s photo editor for Thailand and Southeast Asia, died at 6:14 pm Bangkok Time (7:14 pm, Manila time).
They said that their father “lived a fearless and full life.”
He met the cancer challenge with “the same inspiring energy – his commitment to his full health and healing came with creative flair.”
They said, he held “presence and gratitude for the many wonders of everyday life, and he shared meaningful relationships with friends and loved ones, all across Manila, Jakarta, Yangon, and Bangkok.”
The news of Gacad’s death quickly spread through the journalistic and artist communities on Sunday.
Gacad had first reached the Pulitzer finals in 1989 after capturing a powerful 1989 finish-line photo of Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis in the 100-meter dash finals race in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He reached the Pulitzer finals again in 2002 for his photos on America’s war on Afghanistan. The photos were published in TIME magazine on Christmas eve 2001.
He was again nominated for the Pulitzer prize in 2003 for the Iraq war.
