Reid Blackburn
Reid Turner Blackburn (August 11, 1952 – May 18, 1980) was an American photographer killed in the 1980 volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens. A photojournalist covering the eruption for a local newspaper—the Vancouver, Washington Columbian—as well as National Geographic magazine and the United States Geological Survey, he was caught at Coldwater Camp in the blast. Blackburn's car and body were found four days after the eruption. His camera, buried under the debris of the eruption, was found roughly one week later. After his death, Blackburn was praised by his coworkers and friends alike. They spoke of his talent and enthusiasm, as well as his sometimes "acerbic" sense of humor. His wife, Fay, concluded that he had died doing what he loved. Life Blackburn was born in 1952, the son of an engineer who possessed "a fixation on figuring out the way things worked". He loved the idea of photography, once equating it to "painting with light". He was an accomplished photographer, and had received accolades from the Associated Press for his photographs. Blackburn also authored a book on outboard hydroplane racing. Blackburn attended Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. He began working at The Columbian newspaper in 1975 as a