Ottawa journalist pays tribute to Jimmy Carter in his work

After former President Jimmy Carter died Sunday, dozens, if not hundreds of tributes, were written in his honor.

Among those putting together words to express Carter’s life and impact were Ottawa’s Kane Farabaugh, a reporter for Voice of America.

Farabaugh has conducted more than 20 one-on-one interviews with Carter since 2005, producing more than 100 in-depth news reports for VOA’s international language services about the former president’s life, legacy and global work with his Carter Center and Habitat for Humanity.

Few journalists have had access to Carter like Farabaugh, who also is writing a book about Carter’s relationship with his one-time rival for the White House, Gerald Ford.

As the interviews stacked up, Farabaugh became friends with Carter, and he and his family have gone fishing with the Carters at their pond.

“I got to know him not only as the former president, farmer, Navy veteran and humanitarian,” Farabaugh said. “I got to know him and become a friend.”

Farabaugh first met Carter in 2006 during one of the president’s book tours. Since then, Farabaugh has visited Carter’s Sunday school sermons in Plains, Georgia, tagged along on book signings with him, had dinners with him and read his books, along with conducting a number of interviews with him. Through the friendship, Farabaugh has said he’s never shied away from asking tough or hard questions of Carter.

Farabaugh received the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi award for his reporting on the passing of First Lady Rosalynn Carter in 2023. His 2019 interview with President Carter, one of Carter’s last media appearances, was nominated for an Emmy award.

Farabaugh will be heading to Georgia this week for services there and cover the story for VOA. He’ll be speaking with several people about the life of Carter and sharing those stories with his audience.

Aside from Carter’s prominence as a world leader, Farabaugh said there’s many stories to tell about him, enough he said documentarian Ken Burns – known for his multi-part series works – could make a full series of Carter’s life. But Farabaugh as an on-air reporter will be tasked with shorter pieces built around exemplary anecdotes.

Among the stories Farabaugh likes to share is how the Carter Center is close to eradicating Guinea worm in Africa. The disease caused by a parasite from contaminated drinking water has gone from 300 cases to 10 thanks to the work of the Carter Center.

“It could be only the second time a disease has been eradicated in history, the first one was smallpox,” Farabaugh said.

The Guinea worm example only scratches the surface of Carter’s humanitarian work, as the former president is known for his peace advocacy and hands-on work with Habitat for Humanity.

Farabaugh said the president lived by the Methodist creed: “Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can,” even though the he was Baptist.

“Jimmy Carter to me will be the greatest man I have ever met and will ever have the good fortune to call my friend,” Farabaugh said in a tribute he recorded for VOA.

Farabaugh is working on a book about Carter and Ford’s relationship. Farabaugh said the presidential duo was on a plane together in 1981 as part of the United States delegation following the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. While on that plane, the two realized despite being on different ends of the political spectrum – and being political opponents – they had a lot in common from being Navy veterans to their love for their country. Farabaugh said it forged a relationship that led to the two leaders agreeing to give each other’s eulogies. It happened that Ford died before Carter, and Carter gave Ford’s eulogy, but Carter had agreed to have Ford give his should he have died first.

“That relationship is an example of how politics used to be,” Farabaugh said. “Despite being political opponents, they formed a relationship and were the two closest U.S. presidents. I don’t know if we’ll see that again.”

Farabaugh’s relationship with Carter also put Ottawa artist Chuck Funk in contact with the former president. Chuck Funk, owner of Wide Water Gallery in Ottawa, painted Carter teaching Sunday school in Plains and fly fishing in Alaska. The original painting was donated to the Carter Foundation as a fundraiser piece.

Farabaugh said his own work with Carter has been an instrumental part of his life and he’s honored to be able to share Carter’s stories with the rest of the world.

“It’s all been very rewarding to me,” Farabaugh said. “It is the greatest honor of my life.”

To view Farabaugh’s tribute to Carter, go to Voice of America online and search for "VOA Correspondent Kane Farabaugh Reflects on Long Relationship with Former President Jimmy Carter" or read Farabaugh’s news obituary at https://www.voanews.com/a/former-us-president-jimmy-carter-dies-at-100/7917788.html