ROBERT I. FRIEDMAN

News Organization: FREELANCE

Died: 2002

Location: UNITED STATES

An investigative reporter, he died July 9 at a New York City hospital of heart complications resulting from a rare disease contracted while reporting seven years earlier about female slavery in the slums of Bombay, India. He built his reputation as a Middle East reporter, covering a variety of topics in the region but also was known for his work in New York. Although he spent time on staff at The Village Voice and New York magazine, most of his career was as a freelance writer. He won a Society of Professional Journalists Award for his coverage of the Muslim extremists behind the 1993 World Trade Center attack. He was 51.