Hosny Guindy, first editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram Weekly passed away seven years ago. He is remembered by his friends and colleagues Reading through Hosny Guindy: A Tribute, a collection of articles by different hands that appeared some time ago in the Weekly, I was moved once again to try to write a farewell piece to a great journalist and friend. I was greatly impressed by the amount of love and respect the tribute pieces showed. Reading them, I realised how many people must have loved Hosny, how many must have respected him, how many must have admired him, and how many, including myself, must miss him. Yes, I miss him both as editor-in-chief of the Weekly and as a personal friend. Indeed, I have come to realise how untrue the saying is that time is the great healer. In fact, with the passing of the years our thoughts of the dear departed ones often increase rather than flag. Our memories of them haunt us, like a tune we keep repeating to ourselves. And I have many memories of Hosny Guindy. Some of these are of Hosny playing one of his official roles, but there are also many little things that remind me of him. One morning, for example, when the Al-Ahram car did not arrive as usual to take us to work we had to take a taxi instead. Hosny stopped one and said to the driver what might be expressed in English translation as the following: "Excuse me sir, but could you kindly take us to the Al-Ahram newspaper?" I shall always remember the look of surprise that came over the driver's face. He left his seat and came round to open the door for us. He looked at Hosny and said, "this is the first and probably the only time that anyone has ever called me sir." But Hosny was like that. He was politeness incarnate, which endeared him to everyone he knew. He was an editor-in-chief of a different and very special kind, and he was a professional journalist in every sense of the word. He knew all the ins and outs, all the cogs that make the wheels of journalism turn. In editorial meetings he spared no effort in directing his mostly young staff to their tasks. They were a staff that Hosny had selected himself from young graduates of different universities. He trained them himself and groomed them to become the editorial bulwarks of the Weekly. I shall always miss Hosny. I miss going with him to Al-Ahram. I miss the conversations we used to have together about this and that on our way to work, and I miss the first cup of strong black coffee we used to have together in his office. I miss all these things, and I always will. By Mursi Saad El-Din
