Tracking Kissinger

It was pleasing to see mention of Lars-Erik Nelson in reference to Adam Kellett-Long's time in Moscow. An intense, multi-lingual first class journalist, in his time at Reuters - from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s - he helped to significantly raise Reuters profile in the USA.

Back in Washington after the Soviet Union, he was appointed to the State Department beat, which at that time did not include travelling with the Secretary of State. Tracking Henry Kissinger's travel, he approached Kissinger after a routine meeting unlikely to be covered by other journalists and talked him into giving Reuters a seat on his plane.

His reporting on Kissinger's travels soon saw the Reuters credit in major American papers.

His standing with the State Department and his colleagues/rivals on the beat - some of the very best in the country - also paved the way for those who followed, initially myself and Roy Gutman, and some great beats on such events as the Salt talks on a missile pact with the Soviet Union and the Israel-Egypt agreement that led to the Camp David Summit.

After leaving Reuters, Lars became a highly regarded columnist and investigative journalist for a number of media outlets. ■