DECEMBER 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 75
ROBERT SAM ANSON
VIETNAM WAR REPORTER
Longtime Sag Harbor resident Robert
Sam Anson, who covered the Vietnam
War as a journalist for Time magazine
in the 1970s, died on Nov. 2 at age 75.
Anson was once captured by North
Vietnamese troops in Cambodia while
reporting. He became well revered
for his 1989 memoir War News which
chronicled his experiences, as well as
his other in-depth books and stories
on social issues and politics. He wrote
for several different national publications,
including Vanity Fair, where he
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Active members of many community organizations including: Knights of Columbus, Bishop’s Coat of Arms Club,
Ancient Order of Hibernians, Flushing Rotary , First Friday Club
was a contributing editor.
Vanity Fair writer David Friend called
Anson “a master of the long-form magazine
story” in a tribute to his friend
and colleague.
“Anson had a kinship with some of
the men and women he covered,”
Friend wrote. “He, too, was magnetic
and brash, turbulent and complex,
passionate and fascinating.”
Anson grew up in Cleveland, Ohio,
where his father, Sam B. Anson, was
editor and publisher of several local
newspapers. After graduating from
the University of Notre Dame, Robert
Anson began his career as a war correspondent
for Time magazine at age 24.
Upon his return to the states, his first
book was a biography of South Dakota
Sen. George S. McGovern. Anson
went on to write books about President
John. F. Kennedy’s murder, the
Nixon presidency and Rolling Stone
magazine. He was a regular writer
and editor for magazines such as The
New York Observer, Manhattan, Inc.,
Esquire, The Atlantic, and others. He
was also Editor in Chief for Los Angeles
Magazine.
The respected writer was married
three times. He and his last wife,
Amanda Kyser, moved to Sag Harbor
about 40 years ago.
“He spent most of his 75 years on
this earth in the orbit of New York,”
Anson’s son, Sam, told Vanity Fair,
“and his happiest were in Sag Harbor,
where he became a mainstay of the
community of writers who took root
there.”
Anson made friends with neighbors in
Sag Harbor, including Paul and Myrna
Davis.
“We met Robert and Amanda when
they moved to Sag Harbor in the ’80s
and became good and lasting friends,”
Myrna told The Southampton Press.
“He was a formidable storyteller and
never boring.”
Anson died of dementia-related illness
at a home in Rexford, N.Y., where he
was being treated for his condition. He
is survived by his three children, Christian
Anson Kasperkovitz, Sam Gideon
Anson, and Georgia Grace Anson.
-BB
OBITUARY
Robert Sam Anson
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