O'SULLIVAN, P. Michael 1940-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE— See index for CA sketch: Born April 15, 1940, in Jackson, MI; died of lung cancer September 19, 2004, in Chicago, IL. Photojournalist and author. O'Sullivan was a freelance photographer best remembered for his sympathetic documentation of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). After serving in the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne from 1960 to 1964, he worked in New York City as a photojournalist for Life and Business Week magazines. He then went freelance as a photographer, and also did some work as a film producer and director in the 1970s. During the late 1960s, O'Sullivan made a name for himself taking pictures of the 1967 Detroit riot, as well as the riots outside the Chicago Democratic National Convention in 1968, as well as the violence that followed Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. Widely acknowledged for his fearlessness in the face of dangerous situations, he then traveled to Northern Ireland to document the clashes between Catholics and Protestants. While there, he became sympathetic to the Irish Republican Army and interviewed several of its prominent members, including Gerry Adams, who would go on to lead the radical Sinn Fein party. In 1972, he published his study Patriot Graves: Resistance in Ireland. While in Ireland, O'Sullivan also had the opportunity to photograph singers and musicians at O'Rourke's Pub, where he captured images of the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. A motorcycle enthusiast, O'Sullivan unfortunately suffered from brain damage after a serious accident in 1982 that left him in a coma for several days. He never fully recovered from his injuries, which left him partially paralyzed and made it difficult for him to speak.

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Chicago Tribune, September 23, 2004, section 3, p. 11.