Release Date Is Moved Up for Shadid Book

Wasif Chudhary


Anthony Shadid, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter who died on Thursday while reporting in Syria, was weeks away from embarking on a book tour.

He was scheduled to return to the United States for a 20-city tour to promote “House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family and a Lost Middle East,” a book that has drawn critical praise in early reviews.

His publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, said on Friday that it had decided to move up the publication date of “House of Stone” to Feb. 28 from March 27. The book has already been bound and printed.

On Friday, Long Island University announced that the George Polk awards in journalism would recognize Mr. Shadid with a special, posthumous award for “extraordinary valor for his work in the Middle East.”

Mr. Shadid’s book tour was to have crossed the country, including appearances in New York, Cleveland, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis and Oklahoma City, where he was born, the publisher said.

In one review, Kai Bird, the author of “Crossing Mandelbaum Gate,” said the book “should be read by anyone who wishes to understand the agonies and hopes of the Middle East.”

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said it was hoping to recruit friends and colleagues of Mr. Shadid’s to take his place for scheduled media appearances, speaking to audiences about Mr. Shadid’s life and work.

His previous two books drew praise for their grace and authority: “Legacy of the Prophet: Despots, Democrats and the New Politics of Islam” (2001) and “Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of America’s War” (2005).