New York Times correspondent Anthony Shadid has died in eastern Syria while on a reporting assignment. The Times says he died Thursday apparently of an asthma attack.

Times photographer Tyler Hicks was with him and carried his body to Turkey.

Shadid had worked previously for The Associated Press, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe. He won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 2004 and 2010 for his coverage of Iraq.

The Times says the 43-year-old Shadid had been reporting in Syria for a week. It says he was gathering information on the resistance to the Syrian government. It says the exact circumstances and location of his death are unclear.

Speaking to WNYC's The Takeaway on Friday, Times columnist and former executive editor, Bill Keller, praised Shadid's writing and his ability to connect with different cultures.

"It was quite amazing his ability to see beneath the surface of events and to listen to the voices in the street and really hear them," Keller said.

The judges for Long Island University's George Polk Awards in Journalism will posthumously honor Shadid, the y announced Friday. LIU will announce the winners of the 2011 George Polk Awards in Journalism on Monday.

Shadid will be honored with the other winners at a luncheon on April 5.