Edward Said, 1935-2003.

World-renowned author, philosopher and activist, Edward Said, passed away at age 67 on September 25, 2003, after battling for several years with refractory leukemia, a rare form which resists all known chemotherapies. Considered one of the leading literary critics of the late 20th Century, Said's works revolutionized western perception of the Middle East. His writings have been translated into 26 languages, including his most influential book Orientalism, written in 1978. He was a professor at Columbia University and president of the Modern Language Association.

Said was born in Jerusalem, Palestine in 1935 into a prosperous family. After the founding of Israel, his family emigrated to Cairo; there he attended the British-styled public school, Victoria College. A self-proclaimed troublemaker, Said was expelled from Victoria College, and at his father's resolve sent to Mount Hermon, a private school in Massachusetts, where he excelled academically. A musical talent, Said was a passionate pianist; a student at the esteemed Julliard School of Music, he achieved an almost professional level of competence. Subsequently Said procured his B.A. from Princeton and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard.

Immersed in his studies and in his passion for music, Said did not concern himself vehemently with politics until the shock of the Arab defeat in 1967. This stirred him into political activism, and from then on he was the main spokesman in the fight for a free Palestine. For more than a decade, Said was a member of the Palestine National Council (PLO), and after decades of support he renounced Yasser Arafat with sharp objections to his approval of the Oslo Accords (which he considered "an instrument of Palestinian surrender") and to Arafat's refusal to grant the Palestinian people open democratic elections. A Humanist and staunch critic, Said openly criticized the United States for its long-standing support of Israel despite what he called its "numerous human-rights violations of Palestinians."

Predictably he was labeled an anti-Semitist by right-wing American commentary, preventing him from appearing in the mainstream media due to his marginality. Fluent in many languages, including Arabic and French, Said was a well sought after commentator for the BBC, Canadian Broadcasting, and Australian radio. He also wrote a twice-monthly column for Al Hayat, a London based Arabic daily, and contributed many articles about the Middle East and other subjects to such magazines as The Progressive. Other books to his credit are: The Question of Palestine (1979), Culture and Imperialism (1994), Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World (1996), and Out of Place: A Memoir (2000).