Tell Them I Didn’t Cry: A Young Journalist’s Story of Joy, Loss, and Survival in Iraq

In her gripping account of the Iraq war, Jackie Spinner goes beyond the headlines to reveal the challenges of reporting news in a place where danger and fear accompany journalists everywhere. This is a vivid and personal story of her time in Iraq – where for thirteen months she covered the war from its center in Baghdad, Fallujah, Kurdistan, and Abu Ghraib – and of being transformed from a naive woman and rookie correspondent into a seasoned foreign reporter.

Jackie’s account is punctuated by brief vignettes written by her identical twin sister, Jenny, who watched as Jackie was drawn further and further into a world increasingly fraught with danger. Every morning she looked for Jackie’s byline in the Post, knowing only then that her sister had survived another day.

Through it all – the violence and fear as well as the moments of humor, camaraderie, and warmth – Jackie Spinner brings home, with brilliant intensity and candor, what it is like to report on a war under exceptional circumstances.