Dianna 10 years gone

From the J. Peterman Files.

Every generation has the “where were you when…” question for momentous events in our collective histories. For my parents’ generation, it was JFK in Dallas. For me, it was certainly when the Towers were hit, and also, the Shuttle exploding in 1986.

I just woke up and popped on the news. The cable nets are going wall to wall with the Princess Diana remembrance service, which made me recall where I was a decade ago when the news broke. I arrived in Bamako, Mali at around 8 AM, after taking a 25 hour, 1200 KM bus ride through the Sahara from the central Mali town of Gao. The previous two weeks had been spent photographing a boat on the Niger river, a trip which is one that I would not recommend for anybody’s honeymoon. The bus was not much better… It was completely packed with people and goats, and temperatures were around 110F.

I got to my favorite hotel and was greeted by the manager. “Tim! Your friends killed Diana.” Huh? What friends, Diana who? “Princess Diana, the paparazzi killed her by chasing after her last night.” Of course, we learned later that her driver was not fit to be behind the wheel, but nobody cared at that time.