leslie.plommer on "Mai Ghoussoub in her time"

leslie.plommer — Tue, 01 May 2007 20:08:27 +0100

As the Open Democracy remembrances of her richly demonstrate, Mai was and remains nothing less than a gift to the human race.

Not logged in on "Mai Ghoussoub in her time"

Not logged in — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 11:02:15 +0000

Superb piece about Mai that told me many things I did not know.

Mai Ghoussoub in her time, Neil Belton

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Mai Ghoussoub, the founder and joint proprietor of Al Saqi Bookshop and the publishing company linked to it, has died suddenly at the age of 54. Her death is cruel, completely unexpected and still inexplicable. Much more than a bookshop owner and publisher, she was one of the most open, generous, and tolerant people in the cultural life of London over the past thirty years.

Her own work as a sculptor grew in stature with each passing year, and her literary contributions to debate over the middle east were highly personal, urgent pleas for a culture of democratic reconciliation of differences - for a move beyond the cycle of revenge and grievance in which Arab (and Israeli) politics is stuck. Quite apart from her own creative work, she was a kind and encouraging friend to writers, artists, and young people finding their way intellectually and politically. Her instinct, the opposite of the coldly exclusionary reflex of English literary London, was to draw people in, to assume the best of them and to help them by introducing them to writers or academics who might stimulate them. Her death leaves a raw wound for many of us that will take a long time to heal.

Read the rest of this post...

open Democracy News Analysis - Mai Ghoussoub in her time, Neil Belton - Comments

leslie.plommer on "Mai Ghoussoub in her time"

Not logged in on "Mai Ghoussoub in her time"

Mai Ghoussoub in her time, Neil Belton