Frontline

The Lost American (1997x15)

Air date: Oct 14, 1997

FRONTLINE explores the extraordinary life and mysterious disappearance of Fred Cuny, a passionate humanitarian and global trouble-shooter who traveled from Biafra to Bosnia, bringing hope to countless lives in need. A hero to some, a renegade to others, Cuny's strength lay in his ability to look beyond the immediate crisis -- drought, civil discord, earthquakes -- in order to restore a way of life. Like a character lifted from a John le Carre novel, Cuny was a larger-than-life, take-charge Texan with a hunger for lost causes. But after twenty-five years in the field, Cuny was tired of dealing with disasters after they happened instead of the underlying causes. He wanted to be a deal broker, to take a seat at the table where major policy is made. Did that ambition kill him? The investigation traces Cuny's last days in Chechnya, unravels the story of his disappearance, and explores the lessons of his life in an examination of America's responsibilities for the humanitarian disasters that plague our world.