I didn't know Chris Hondros until yesterday, when I wrote about his death.

I came away impressed.

Hondros, 41, was a war photographer who won some of his industry's top honors for his incredible work covering the world's diciest battles.

A graduate of N.C. State, Hondros was drawn to war, to its stories, its relevance and its victims.

He studied English literature at NCSU. One of his early bosses, Johnny Horne of the Fayetteville Observer, told me that area of study grounded Hondros and gave him a unique world view. It helped him related to people, no matter their race, nationality, background.

Hondros died Wednesday, caught up in the bloodshed in Libya.

Here's today's story.

And here's a link to a tribute posted on an NCSU website.