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Washington, DC, Sept. 25 - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
(ADC) today expressed its profound sadness at the death of Prof. Edward
Said. Said was one of the best-known and respected Arab Americans and a
staunch friend and supporter of ADC.
ADC President Mary Rose Oakar said, "Edward Said was a giant figure in the
Arab-American community, and for Arabs in the Middle East and across the
world. We relied heavily on his wisdom and guidance in our work here at
ADC over the years, and counted on his invaluable counsel and support. He
is an irreplaceable treasure, and we shall miss him beyond measure. "
Former Congresswoman Oakar concluded, "we extend our most heartfelt
condolences to his family and friends, and especially to his wonderful
wife Miriam who was a member of ADC's Board of Directors for many years.
We want them to know that we, the community at large, and millions of
people of conscience around the world join them in mourning the passing of
a truly great and noble man."
Prof. Edward Said was University Professor of English and Comparative
Literature at Columbia University in New York City. He was the past
President of the Modern Language Association and one of the most
influential literary critics of his generation. His seminal work,
"Orientalism," is widely credited with inaugurating the Postcolonial
Studies movement in the humanities. Other works, including "The Question
of Palestine," "After the Last Sky," "The Politics of Dispossession,"
"Peace and its Discontents," and his extraordinary memoir, "Out of Place,"
constitute one of the most sustained and effective efforts to represent
the Palestinian experience to the American public.
Said, a multi-talented renaissance man, was also Music Editor for the
Nation magazine in the 1990s, and an accomplished pianist. His
collections of essays, "The World, the Text, the Critic," and "Reflections
on Exile" are among the most influential in contemporary literary
scholarship. His 1982 work, "Covering Islam," set the standard for much
of the media criticism to follow.
His 1993 Reith Lectures for the BBC, published as "Representations of the
Intellectual," explained in detail his vision of the public intellectual
as a fiercely independent spirit who confronted both the smugly powerful
and the complacent public with difficult truths. Edward Said's life-work
was an exercise in this ethos, forever challenging friend and foe alike.
ADC extends its deepest condolences to Edward Said's family and to the
community, and reiterates its deep sadness at having lost one of its most
valued friends and inspirations.
valued friends and inspirations.
