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Mitch Irion
Mitch Irion spent most of his career in the visual end of storytelling as an art director and creative director in both Hollywood and advertising. But it was a deeply personal conn...voir plusMitch Irion spent most of his career in the visual end of storytelling as an art director and creative director in both Hollywood and advertising. But it was a deeply personal connection that ignited an obsession he couldn't ignore.
His mother-in-law's haunting memories of escaping the Japanese army during World War II—fragmented recollections of a teenage girl fleeing through China, seeking refuge in Buddhist temples, saved by her father's desperate gamble—planted a seed that refused to let go. When Irion later read Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking, that seed grew into an urgent need to tell a story the world had largely forgotten.
He became consumed by the extraordinary courage of a small group of Westerners—most of them American missionaries—who chose to remain in Nanking when they could have evacuated. The thought of ordinary people armed only with moral conviction standing between civilians and overwhelming military force gripped him completely. Driven by a growing sense of purpose, Irion made pilgrimages to Yale Divinity School's archives, immersing himself in original diaries, letters, and firsthand accounts, including George Fitch's own writings. Each document deepened his conviction that this story demanded to be told.
What began as a screenplay collaboration with his son Jeremy refused to remain contained in that form. The story pulled at Irion until he transformed it into a novel, finally giving him the canvas to fully explore the themes of moral courage in humanity's darkest hours that had captured his heart. Nanking Safety Zone is more than meticulously researched history—it's Irion's passionate tribute to those who chose compassion over safety, a labor of love honoring the memory of all who suffered and those who dared to protect them.voir moins