By Sarah Rankin

chh@heraldsun.com; 918-1035

CHAPEL HILL -- David Zucchino's life is just as interesting as the stories he writes. A Pulitzer Prize-winning national and foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, the Chapel Hill resident and UNC graduate has traveled to more than 20 countries in his more than 35 years in journalism.

Zucchino's work focuses largely on war, civil strife and military affairs. Since beginning international coverage in 1982, he has covered conflict in such places as Chechnya, Bosnia, Namibia, Ethiopia, Uganda, India, Pakistan, Angola and Congo. Since 2001, he has made six reporting trips to Iraq and 12 to Afghanistan.

Tall, slim, athletic and confident, Zucchino, 58, looks just how one might picture a seasoned reporter. But despite his impressive resume, he doesn't take himself too seriously. He is straightforward and friendly, and when he isn't working, you might find him playing in regular croquet tournaments around Chapel Hill or traveling with his family.

Zucchino's work takes him to some of the most dangerous, war-torn places on the planet. But he wouldn't have it any other way.

"I love new things, new places, new adventures," Zucchino said. "I like being a part of history."

Zucchino grew up in a military family -- his dad was in the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army -- and he lived in Germany and all over the United States as a child.

In 1973, Zucchino, a journalism major, graduated from UNC, where he worked for The Daily Tar Heel as a sports reporter and then as a sports editor.

A "wonderful student"

Richard Cole, dean emeritus and current professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, taught Zucchino.

"He was a wonderful student. He loved feature writing, and he was original," Cole said. "He put anecdotes in his stories to show readers his subjects, not just tell readers about them. Overall, he put words together mighty well. And still does."

After graduating, Zucchino went to work for the News & Observer in Raleigh as a sports intern. When an opening came up on the city desk, Zucchino was hired. He covered events in Raleigh and all over the state, from police news to city council and school board meetings.

During his time at the News & Observer, Zucchino met his wife, Kacey, also a UNC graduate, through a coed softball league. The two married in 1981 and have three daughters: Adrien, Emily and Natalie.

At times, Zucchino's family has lived with him abroad while he has been on assignment. His family lived together in Beirut, Lebanon, and his youngest daughter, Natalie, was born in South Africa.

Zucchino said his wife and daughters worry for his safety when he is abroad.

"She [Kacey] worries about me a lot, but she also understands how important it is to me to do this kind of work."

International reporting

After five years at the News & Observer and two more at the Detroit Free Press, Zucchino took a job at The Philadelphia Inquirer as a general-assignment reporter. When the Inquirer suddenly opened six international bureaus a year and a half later, Zucchino began his international reporting.

He was first stationed in Cairo but then moved to Beirut to cover the ongoing war. Over the next 19 years, Zucchino covered events around the globe.

At the Inquirer, Zucchino won his Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.

He received the prize, one of the most prestigious U.S. journalism awards, in 1989. His winning piece was a series called "Being Black in South Africa," in which he profiled South Africans living under the separatist apartheid regime.

"He's one of the most successful alumni the school has," Cole said. "And he deserved his Pulitzer Prize without question."

Zucchino was in Namibia, a small country in southern Africa, when he found out he had won:

"I remember running down to the bar to celebrate," he said.

When he excitedly told the bartender he had won, the bartender asked: "What's a Pulitzer?"

Inside the war on terror

In 2001, the Inquirer was cutting jobs.

"It wasn't the same job it used to be," he said of his position there.

So he decided to take an offer from the Los Angeles Times and was supposed to start working there in December 2001.

But the events of Sept. 11 meant that Zucchino would start a little earlier. He received a call from his Los Angeles Times editor that day, asking if he could get to New York City.

Zucchino caught the last train from Philadelphia to New York on Sept. 11 and has been covering the war on terror ever since.

Although technically a correspondent on the Los Angeles Times national desk, he said the foreign desk also sends him on assignments, especially to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many of Zucchino's articles are deeply personal and tell the stories of people living in these war-torn countries. From articles about drug addicts in Afghanistan to injured soldiers in Iraq, Zucchino helps readers understand the U.S. military occupation.