By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
Kevin Sites’ journalism career started 30 years ago in his neighbor’s garage.
Sites, a SS. John and Paul High School graduate, travels the world, covering wars and disasters. Sites will be featured in the History Channel program “Expedition Africa: Stanley and Livingstone,” at 10 p.m. today, the first “Expedition” episode called “Lost in Africa.”
New episodes continue 10 p.m. Sunday.
“Expedition Africa: Stanley and Livingstone” is an eight-part series that began May 31. Dubbed “part documentary, part reality series” by the New York Times, the show will follow the documented route of Henry Morton Stanley’s 1871 expedition to find Dr. David Livingstone in Africa.
Sites is one of four seasoned adventurers on the trip, according to The History Channel. He was a war correspondent for CNN and was captured by the Fedayin in Iraq.
In the series, Sites is joined by author and filmmaker Benedict Allen, geophysicist Pasquale Scaturro and anthropologist Mireya Mayor.
The History Channel reports the group will follow Stanley’s route in the conditions and with the technology available in 1871, including with no bottled water.
“In the premiere episode, clashing egos, personality conflicts and disorganization threaten to sink the expedition before it even begins. Scaturro and Allen squabble as each tries to take command, while Mayor, the only woman on the expedition, proves more than up to the challenge ahead. Sites is smart and motivated, but his inexperience almost proves costly. As they find out more about the history of Stanley's expedition, the explorers realize that the journey will be much more difficult than anticipated,” says the History Channel description.
Beverly George, of Geneva, said she remembers Sites as “an adventurous little boy” who assembled the newspapers for his Star Beacon paper route in her garage every day.
“I was surprised when he started covering wars,” George said. “I have talked to his parents about it, and they are very supportive and proud, but they worry about him, of course.”
According to www.wikipedia.com, Sites was hired by Yahoo! in 2005 to be its first correspondent for Yahoo! News. He spent a year traveling to 22 war zones in the world, reporting on victims of conflicts the Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone section of Yahoo! News.
“Sites helped pioneer solo journalism/ video journalism, often working completely alone, traveling and reporting without a crew. Kevin Sites carries a backpack of portable digital technology to write, film and transmit multimedia reports,” the Wikipedia article reports.
Sites’ family moved to Arizona after his high school graduation. Sites now lives in California, George said.
“He is an amazing young man,” she said.
For more information on Sites, go to www.kevinsitesreports.com.
