Pancrazio, Angela C.

Angela Cara Pancrazio born March 30, 1957 died June 19, 2008 at her home in Phoenix. A Pulitzer Prize winning photographer at The Arizona Republic, who later became a well-respected writer and storyteller.  She was 51 years old, and had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in May of 2007. Pancrazio won her Pulitzer when she worked at the Oakland Tribune. In the end, her Republic obituary says, "Angela was surrounded by those who loved her, more than a dozen of whom planted gardens in her honor this spring. The tomatoes are just beginning to ripen and the flowers are now blooming.

She joined The Arizona Republic in 1999 after a distinguished career at the (Portland) Oregonian, the San Jose Mercury News, the Oakland Tribune. Pancrazio won the Pulitzer as a member of the staff of the Tribune for her work covering the Bay Area earthquake of Oct. 17, 1989. 

In her career she covered presidential elections, floods and fallen soldiers, but she took immense satisfaction in giving full measure to small moments and obscure lives. 

Pancrazio wrote about map makers and pawn-shops owners and hot dog vendors. She wrote about strip malls and boot makers and professional eaters. Artists, single mothers, and robot competitions. 

Jack Hart, a writing coach and editor who worked with Pancrazio at the Oregonian, remembers one story that characterized her curious mind and work ethic. 

"Angela noticed that the 45th parallel -the line halfway between the equator and the north pole - ran east-west through the middle of Oregon," Hart said. 

"I knew that, too. But unlike me, Angela wondered who lived along that imaginary line. She headed out across Oregon, to deserts and wild canyons and dense forests, and documented the people she found living along the 45th parallel with words and pictures." 

Pancrazio would embrace any method of telling a story. When pictures were not enough, she wrote. And when that was not enough, she used video.

 "Angela is symbolic of the "renaissance" journalist. She had exceptional writing and storytelling skills, but she was able to bring her subjects to life through more than just words," said Randy Lovely, Editor and Vice President for News at The Arizona Republic. "Her photography was breathtaking and personal. And she was among our first reporters to embrace video as another way to connect readers to her stories." It is likely that Pancrazio took such good pictures because she wrote such strong stories. And vice versa. 

"She saw things in the world that other people would drive by," said former editor Jacqueline Banaszynski. "She was never a drive-by journalist. Angela always got out of the car."

Pancrazio was remarkably patient with her subjects. She would follow a person for days to capture just the right moment with her camera. She would listen for hours waiting for the one quote that would reveal a person. see her work click link >>> go to Angela's photo gallery