James Nelson Goodsell, Veteran Reporter

James Nelson Goodsell, the Monitor's veteran Latin American correspondent, wrote about one of the globe's most diverse and shifting region's with insight and sensitivity.

Over more than a quarter century of covering the region, Mr. Goodsell, who passed on Feb. 1 at his home in Coral Gables, Fla., developed an extensive list of contacts. He was as well-known in the capitals of Quito and Bogata as among banana workers in Costa Rica and gauchos in Argentina.

He covered the region with a sense of empathy, explaining developments through Latin eyes as much as American ones. "Jim loved a good story, the Monitor, and his church," said David Cook, the Monitor's editor. "We remember him fondly for his groundbreaking coverage of Latin America, for his sense of adventure, and for his unfailing generosity in helping young journalists."

Goodsell took special pleasure in the fact his son, Paul, became a journalist. Goodsell began his journalism career at The Chicago Sun in 1945 and later was Central American correspondent for The New York Herald Tribune. He joined the Monitor in 1957, serving as Latin America correspondent from 1964 to 1985.

During a leave in 1984, he was chief correspondent for a public television series on Central America and the Caribbean. It captured a Peabody Award, broadcasting's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. Later, Goodsell served as the first anchor of Monitor Radio's daily afternoon broadcast and as a correspondent for Monitor Television.