Special Coverage: A look at Nelson Mandela's life and legacy

Nelson Mandela leaves the Intercontinental Hotel after a photoshoot with celebrity photographer Terry O'Neil on June 26, 2008 in London, England.

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South African National Congress President Nelson Mandela addresses in Tokoza a crowd of residents from the Phola park squatter camp during his tour of townships Sept. 5, 1990.

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Circa 1964: Nelson Mandela, President of the African National Congress (left) in discussion with C Andrews, a Cape Town teacher.

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Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (L) embraces former South African President Nelson Mandela following remarks by Clinton during a visit to the Nelson Mandela Foundation July 19, 2007 in Johannesburg.

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Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress (ANC), adopts a boxing pose, wearing shorts, t-shirt and boxing gloves, circa 1950.

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Former South African President Nelson Mandela (R) hugs South African Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu as they pay tribute to their late friend Walter Sisulu, at the apartheid struggle hero's state funeral in Soweto May 17, 2003.

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South African president Nelson Mandela waves to the crowd as his country wins the Rugby World Cup, June 24, 1995, against New Zealand at Ellis Park, Johannesburg.

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South Africa's president Jacob Zuma says Nelson Mandela has died at age 95. Zuma says "we've lost our greatest son."

South Africa's president Jacob Zuma confirmed today that Nelson Mandela died at age 95. Zuma says "we've lost our greatest son."

Mandela served as South Africa's president from 1994 to 1999 and was the first black South African to hold that office. His administration focused on breaking apart the country's long standing apartheid system of systematic racial segregation.

Mandela made a historic visit to Los Angeles in 1990 after being released from a 27-year prison sentence under the charges of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government.

Larry Mantle hosts special coverage on the death of Mandela.

Talk To Us:

Do you have any memories of meeting Mandela or hearing him speak? How did his life and work influence you? What lessons did you learn from him and how do you feel about his passing?

"For me, Mandela was so inspirational because he lived in a complicated world and managed to show us reconciliation and good and hope." -- Shelly in Redlands

"This is a man who was great but not impressed with his own greatness." -- Charles in Culver City

"In the 80s paragon of love and courage was Nelson Mandela. In college at the time we looked back at the Vietnam War and the activism and really the thing to be activist about in the '80s was apartheid...The universities at the time held stock that invested in South African business, and we wanted to say not to that. A few years later my partner and I adopted a bi-racial child and we named him, his middle name, Mandela. I would say that Mandela is the shining hope for a loving change in the world. I'm hopeful that there will be younger generations that will see through the fog of electronics that has come up in the ensuing 25 years, blinded a lot of people to what's important and take the courageous lead that he brought." -- Tom in Santa Barbara

Guests:

Edward (Ned) Alpers, professor emeritus of history with a focus on Africa formerly based at the UCLA. He's followed Nelson Mandela's career through the decades and was one of the participants in the Nelson Mandela tribute in Los Angeles.

Lawrence B. Carter, Dean of the Martin Luther King International Chapel based at Morehouse College

Cecil 'Chip' Murray, former pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME), he was appointed as the John R. Tansey Chair of Christian Ethics in the School of Religion at the University of Southern California

Gideon Strauss, executive director of the DePree Center for Leadership at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. A native of South Africa, he served as an interpreter for the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission under Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Patt Morrison, KPCC correspondent and L.A. Times columnist. Morrison attended Mandela's visit to L.A. in the 1990s and she still has her press pass from the event

Joe Richman, founder of RadioDiaries which produced the documentary 'Mandela: An Audio History' in 2004. Check out MandelaHistory.org