Paul Vathis

Paul Vathis (October 18, 1925 – December 10, 2002) was an American photojournalist. He was a photographer for the Associated Press for 56 years.

Life
He was one of eight children of Greek immigrant parents in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania in present-day Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. He got his start in World War II. He was a World War II Marine combat veteran, where he shot bomb damage pictures of South Pacific island caves. Before the war he had never even held a camera before. He was married to Barbara Vathis and had three children Victoria, Randy, and Stephanie. He died at age 77 in his home.

Career
He joined the AP in Philadelphia, in 1946; he spent most of his career at the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania bureau of the AP, starting in 1952.

In 1962, he took a picture of President John F. Kennedy and former President Dwight Eisenhower walking together at Camp David. He covered such events as Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point basketball game in 1962, where he originally was just taking his son Randy to see a game. In 1979, he helped cover the nation's worst nuclear power accident at Three Mile Island.

On January 22, 1987, Vathis went to the Pennsylvania State Capitol to cover then-Treasurer of Pennsylvania R. Budd Dwyer's expected resignation speech the day before Dwyer was to be sentenced for bribery crimes he had been convicted of the month prior. Dwyer maintained his innocence of the crime, claimed he was a victim of political persecution, and announced to the press that he would not resign. After a 30 minute speech, Dwyer handed out envelopes to his staffers before grabbing an envelope and producing a .357 Magnum revolver and shooting himself through his mouth, killing him instantly, in front of his staffers and the gathered press, including Vathis. Vathis captured a series of four photos of Dwyer, for which he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography in 1988, and won third prize for in Spot News at the World Press Photo 1988 Photo Contest, which showed Dwyer holding the gun, Dwyer with the gun in his mouth, Dwyer falling after shooting himself, and Dwyer dead on the floor while his press secretary Duke Horshock attempts to calm the panicked crowd.

Vathis died in 2002 in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

Awards

 * 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Photography