Edgar Snow and Mao, 1936 -- Daily LIFT #650
American journalist Edgar Snow travelled to Xi'an, China where he met with Communist leader Mao and stayed with the Red Army forces for several months in 1936. His account of this time and of the efforts of the Communist Party to liberate China were published in the classic book "Red Star Over China".
Persecuted during the McCarthy era for his favourable and honest portrayals of the Communists and Mao, Snow left the US for Switzerland in 1959.
Snow died on February 15, 1972.
In his will he asked that his ashes be split between New York and Peking University in the People's Republic.
The gravestone erected at the university reads "In Memory of Edgar Snow an American friend of the Chinese people."
