March 1, 2012

Earlier this week marked the release of Anthony Shadid's magnus opus, “House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family and a Lost Middle East.” Shadid, an award-winning correspondent for the New York Times who passed away last week in Syria, had said he had been eager to share his memoir, with the Arab American community.

SEE: “A Mission to Restore a House and a Man ‘House of Stone,’: a Memoir by Anthony Shadid” (New York Times)

Shadid has been widely hailed as the best foreign correspondent of his generation. Many of his fans talked about the many times they waited in anticipation to share with their friends Shadid's dispatches from Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Tunisia, Libya or Syria so that they might understand Arabs as mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brother and sisters – as complex, dynamic people. The humanity of Shadid's writing gave the community a voice.

Though he left us much too soon, what remains is a poignant telling of the rebuilding of his family's house in southern Lebanon and Shadid's search for home. There can be no better tribute to his memory than for all of s to help make “House of Stone” a bestseller.

Purchase your copy or download the Kindle version.