Thoughts as pure as the driven Snow

Edgar Snow is one of the most widely read and influential American journalists in modern China, but few people (including Chinese) know that he also made a unique contribution to facilitate former US president Richard Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972.

In 1970, Snow visited China for the third and last time since 1960, and became the harbinger of the thaw in Sino-US relations by reporting his interviews with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai who gave him the official word "to transmit to the United States the message that US President Richard Nixon would be welcome to visit China, either as a tourist or in an official capacity". Life Magazine published two of Snow's articles to make that invitation known.

Snow received a message from Nixon in early February 1972, saying his "distinguished career is widely respected and appreciated". Snow was to have come to China again to cover Nixon's visit, which began the process of normalizing US-China relations. That would have been a fitting finale to Snow's work of promoting understanding and better ties between China and the US. But illness held him back and he died on Feb 15, in the very week that Nixon was to travel to China.