Catherine Leroy died on Saturday July 8, 2006 in Santa Monica, California. She was 60 years old.

I first met Catherine four years ago while finishing my documentary, Khe Sanh: a Walk in the Clouds. She took the time to watch my film and give me some feedback (she had a way of telling you like it is).

I invited her over for dinner one Sunday to introduce her to two Khe Sanh veterans, one of which had taken a picture of her back in 1968. It was interesting to watch her interact with these two men. It was much like old friends getting together after many years apart. Perhaps it was their shared experiences of war in Vietnam.

"She spoke the most disgusting English.
I asked her where she learned it from
and she said 'the Marines'."

Jonathan Randal - the Washington Post

Catherine called me last summer to talk about an idea she had for a documentary - she wanted to turn the cameras on the paparazzi. As I sat in her apartment, sipping tea and thumbing through her new book, Under Fire: Great Photographers and Writers in Vietnam, something struck me... here was this woman who had lived an amazing life, a successful life, as an award winning war photographer, and now she was living in total obscurity in this small little apartment in LA, trying to make a living by selling high end fashion garments.

I felt sad for some reason. I felt as though she was trying to hold on to something from the past. We talked about Vietnam, the war in Iraq, and watched a film she had done long ago in Paris. At that very moment I felt privileged to be sitting there. I envied her experience.

People look at movie stars and athletes as heroes or objects of affection. But it's people like Catherine, capturing a single frame that will forever be frozen in time that I admire. My idea of being star struck, is sitting with Catherine Leroy and sipping tea.

I wish I had known she was sick. You will be missed Catherine.

David C. Kniess, Jr.
Los Angeles