Photographer Leighton Mark, shot in Beirut in 1984, has died

WASHINGTON (AP) — Leighton Mark, a photojournalist who taught himself to make pictures with one arm after he was wounded in 1984 while covering the civil war in Lebanon, has died. He was 67.

A cousin said Mark died Saturday in Topeka, Kansas, his hometown.

He worked for United Press International and The Associated Press during a long career that was almost cut short when he was 32 and sprayed with automatic rifle fire in Beirut.

After a year of recuperation, Mark sought a way to continue his career and was helped by a camera repairman who modified his equipment to accommodate one-handed shooting.

Mark later left UPI for The Associated Press, where he worked as a photo editor in the Washington bureau from 1997 until his retirement in 2016.