Gunnard Johnston
Lithuania
13. Oktober, 2008

I remember Lee very well, too. I met him first at UTS in 1977. He was in the second class to graduate in 1978, along with Mr. Farley Jones, Drs. Tyler Hendricks, Andy Wilson, and Gordon Anderson, and many more. He was a very unique brother: he would get movies every Friday night -- the old reel to reel kind, back then. He usually found some interesting unusual films. He liked Frank Capra, I believe.

In truth, Lee was one of the messiest brothers I ever met. He was notorious for his messiness. He had a small room for his film activities, and it was of course total chaos. Then, one day a sister who was in charge of keeping UTS grounds clean went into Lee's cubbyhole and cleaned it up.  Lee became furious!! He was breathing fire, "Who messed up my room!!!!"  He was storming.

Naturally, Lee was matched and blessed with that sister, whose name is Linda. :-)

When he graduated from UTS in 1978 Father sent all new graduates to CARP USA. Next I heard Lee was doing some filming of CARP activities. Lee really loved doing film work, dedicated his life to it. He continued to work in filming projects he was doing here and there -- I lost track after a while. Then I heard he had gone to Central America to film the Miskito Indians fighting the communist Sandinista government of Nicaragua.

It was a dangerous effort on Lee's part. Not only being in the jungles of Central America but also with a real chance of getting caught by the Sandinistas or killed in a conflict. That never fazed Lee; he saw it as great fun!! A very gutsy guy. His documentary on the Miskito resistance to the Soviet-backed Sandinistas was a great report of a peoples' courage and faith to fight against an evil domination. Lee's video was shown at the Ronald Reagan White House, among other places, and won high praise.

Next thing I heard was that Lee had secretly gone to Afghanistan to film the Soviet invading forces there. Lee was even better equipped and prepared for this trip and he made a lot of footage, then returned to the States. I saw him in New York during this time, around the World Mission Center (NYorker Hotel). Some years earlier I had seen him there walking around with a cane, having injured his leg. I asked him how it had happened and he said someone in a car had hit him while he had been fund-raising on the street for his latest film project.

This later time I saw him he told me he was not satisfied with the footage he had gotten from Afghanistan, and that he was preparing to return. I was again very impressed by his guts. He was inspiring. But I also had a funny feeling  that he might be pushing the envelope a bit far. Having done it once and returned  safely was a blessing; to go back a second time made me think maybe would be twice  as risky. The Soviets were not doing well in Afghanistan and they would be eager to  find any "soft targets" in order to keep up their own morale, which was clearly sagging.

Some time later I was staying at the Church city center in Bridgeport, Connecticut. This was several years before Father purchased the U. of Bridgeport. I usually worked out of the Church state headquarters in New Have, but stayed a couple of days at the Bridgeport center.

On one of those days I happened to turn on the television early in the morning, after we had morning service, and was watching the Today Show.  Almost immediately the newscaster came on and reported about the killing of Lee and his sound man, Jim Lindaloff (not a Church member) in the mountains of Afghanistan. The TV news showed photos of both men wearing beards and dressed for the rough outdoor life they were living.

I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing so I immediately called national church headquarters to speak with Dr. Durst, who was president at the time. I asked him to confirm what I had just seen -- thinking the news people would have sought some confirmation from our Church -- but Dr. Durst was hearing the news of Lee's death from me for the first time. Dr. Durst didn't know what to say, so I just said, "OK, goodbye."

I heard that when Father was in his morning meeting with leaders at East Garden, when he was apprised of the news of Lee's death, and that Father immediately stopped everything and started to pray in tears for Lee and Jim Lindaloff. Father then conferred the title of "Martyr" on Lee for his work for Heaven.

Lee was a true maverick, did things his way, but in his heart was deeply in love with Father's ideals and life work. Lee tried to further the work of True Father by making his own unique offering the best way he could.



klick here:
Lee Shapiro life and journey as a filmmaker in Afghanistan:
Shadow of Afghanistan