Caption: David Rohde & Kristen Mulvihill, Credit: Erik Swain
Image by: Erik Swain 
David Rohde & Kristen Mulvihill 

Beyond the Rope: A Captivity's Aftermath

From: Eric Winick
Length: 00:14:51

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Former NY Times reporter David Rohde was abducted in Afghanistan only two months after marrying Cosmopolitan photo director Kristen Mulvihill. Seven months later, following a dramatic escape, David returned to New York City, and the couple's life began anew. Read the full description.

_ns_7013-2_small In November 2008, while in Afghanistan writing a book on the region, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter David Rohde was abducted by Taliban gunmen.  At the time, he had been married only two months, to Cosmopolitan photography director Kristen Mulvihill.  Seven months later, after being moved from Logar Province to the tribal areas of Pakistan, after multiple videos depicting Rohde's captivity and a string of dead-end negotiations, Rodhe and his Afghan colleague Tahir Ludin escaped from the compound in which they were held.  Days later, Rohde was reunited with Mulvihill in Dubai, and within a week the two were back home in New York City.  In December 2009, the two began work on a book about their experiences during the period.  The resulting narrative, A Rope and a Prayer, was published in November 2010.  During the months that followed, on tour and elsewhere, Rohde and Mulvihill relived details of their ordeal for audiences both awestruck and enraged by what they had to say.

Original music by Ryan Rumery.  From the files of Yarn Audioworks.

Kristen Mulvihill has been a fashion and photography editor at various women’s magazines, including Marie Claire and Self. Most recently, she was the photography director ofCosmopolitan magazine. She is also a painter and illustrator.

David Rohde,
 winner of two Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, is a foreign affairs columnist for Reuters. Previously, he worked as a reporter for The New York Times for 15 years. He won his first Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for uncovering the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia for The Christian Science Monitor and his second in 2009 as part of a team of New York Times reporters covering Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is also the author of Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica.

They both grew up in New England, graduated from Brown University and live in New York.

To view more photos of David Rohde and Kristen Mulvihill, click here.

To order the book, click here.  To order the e-book, click here.  To pre-order the paperback edition (released Oct 25, 2011), click here.  To read Rohde's series of articles in the Times and view an interactive feature about his captivity, click here.
 

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Piece Description

In November 2008, while in Afghanistan writing a book on the region, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter David Rohde was abducted by Taliban gunmen.  At the time, he had been married only two months, to Cosmopolitan photography director Kristen Mulvihill.  Seven months later, after being moved from Logar Province to the tribal areas of Pakistan, after multiple videos depicting Rohde's captivity and a string of dead-end negotiations, Rodhe and his Afghan colleague Tahir Ludin escaped from the compound in which they were held.  Days later, Rohde was reunited with Mulvihill in Dubai, and within a week the two were back home in New York City.  In December 2009, the two began work on a book about their experiences during the period.  The resulting narrative, A Rope and a Prayer, was published in November 2010.  During the months that followed, on tour and elsewhere, Rohde and Mulvihill relived details of their ordeal for audiences both awestruck and enraged by what they had to say.

Original music by Ryan Rumery.  From the files of Yarn Audioworks.

Kristen Mulvihill has been a fashion and photography editor at various women’s magazines, including Marie Claire and Self. Most recently, she was the photography director ofCosmopolitan magazine. She is also a painter and illustrator.

David Rohde,
 winner of two Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, is a foreign affairs columnist for Reuters. Previously, he worked as a reporter for The New York Times for 15 years. He won his first Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for uncovering the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia for The Christian Science Monitor and his second in 2009 as part of a team of New York Times reporters covering Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is also the author of Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica.

They both grew up in New England, graduated from Brown University and live in New York.

To view more photos of David Rohde and Kristen Mulvihill, click here.

To order the book, click here.  To order the e-book, click here.  To pre-order the paperback edition (released Oct 25, 2011), click here.  To read Rohde's series of articles in the Times and view an interactive feature about his captivity, click here.
 

Transcript

David Rohde: Exhausted after being awake for 24 hours, I try to go to sleep. I climb into bed and fear closing my eyes. I am afraid I will wake up in Miran Shah and this will all have been a fantasy.

Kristen Mulvihill: As we descend into Dubai, I glance out the window. Dubai is eight hours ahead of New York. We’ve lost a day in transit as if propelled forward in time chronologically and emotionally. The desert below begins to glow in the last vestiges of sunlight.

DR: I awake early the next morning and feel euphoric. We have, in fact, escaped.

KM: I think about what I want to do when David and I are reunited.

DR: I plug in my Blackberry and charge the battery.

KM: I simply want us to be home together, enjoying the daily things.

DR: I turn on the phone and Kristen’s face stares at me from the small screen.

KM: Drinking coffee in the morning, grocery shopping, going...
Read the full transcript

Musical Works

Title Artist Album Label Year Length
Are You? Ryan Rumery Deathbed. Original work 2009 02:05
Drive Ryan Rumery Durango. Original work 2005 00:55
Begin Ryan Rumery ITB. Original work 2011 00:30
To Dream Ryan Rumery Stretch. Original work 2011 01:40
The End Ryan Rumery Up. Original work 2011 01:15

Additional Credits

Original music by Ryan Rumery, used by permission of the composer.

Related Website

http://www.yarnaudioworks.com