Issue No.590
Culture
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13 - 19 June 2002 Issue No.590 Culture |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Plain Talk
It is typical of John Rodenbeck to leave Egypt quietly, without fanfare, after so many years in Cairo. He was always reluctant to make a show of what he did, and he did a great deal, not only as professor of English and Comparative Literature at the American University in Cairo, but also, for a lengthy stretch of time, as the director of that institution's press.
In the beautifully written profile by Jenny Jobbins, "Spiriting quietly", that appeared in this paper last week, John summed it up by saying that "when people emigrate they spirit themselves away quietly". And this is exactly what he has done. John and Elizabeth are, to me, "emigrating" to France.
I can't remember how long I have known John and his charming wife Elizabeth, or Buffy as all her friends would call her. Possibly from the moment they first came to Egypt in 1964 and then on their return in 1971. Since then the Rodenbecks have lived in Egypt, with annual interruptions to go to their abode in the south of France.
John and I became close when he took over the job as director of the AUC Press. I used to visit him in his modest two-room office on AUC's Greek Campus, the space from which he would, over time, pump a great deal of necessary new blood into the ailing Press.
Although his predecessor had signed a contract for the translation rights of Naguib Mahfouz's novels, it was John Rodenbeck who really got the ball rolling. It was he who revised the translations and annotated them. I remember cooperating with him on the revision of Mahfouz's Wedding Song, for which I also wrote the introduction. During this joint enterprise I could hardly fail to notice just how meticulously John went about the necessary tasks, editing and, when necessary, sometimes even rewriting passages in the translation as we worked along.
During John's nine years work at the AUC Press we had many opportunities to meet, largely because I had been asked by him to act as an adviser to the Press.
But ours was not only a business association. We became good friends. We often met at receptions at which Buffy and John were almost permanent fixtures. I also had the pleasure of working with Buffy on Cairo Today, when I was the magazine's editor- in-chief. It was during the infancy of the magazine, which later changed its name to Egypt Today, and Buffy helped, in a big way, in nurturing the title, helping it to grow up and stand on solid ground.
John is an accomplished writer in his own right. I particularly remember a series of articles he wrote for Cairo Today about literary Alexandria in which he traced the cultural history of the city from Graeco- Roman times to the present. He was always a great admirer of Alexandria and remained highly critical of writers whom he felt had failed to do the city justice.
When I think of John Rodenbeck and his lengthy stay among us Edward Lane always springs to my mind. True, John did not don the typical Egyptian attire that Lane always wore, but then he didn't have to. We all now wear European suits these days anyway. The comparison springs to mind because both men came eventually to know their adopted home inside out. John Rodenbeck certainly grew to love and appreciate Egypt, and he contributed a great deal to life in Cairo, not just through the institution of the university, but also through organisations such as the Society for the Preservation of the Architectural Resources of Egypt. His absence will leave a gap, and he will be greatly missed. I hope only that one day we will get a book by him about his life in and, if I may add, love for, Egypt.
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