Hosny Guindy

By George Bahgory

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When the computers are switched on in office 911, on the ninth floor of Al-Ahram's New Publications Building, Hosny Guindy's radiant face beams as it fills the screens. It is as if he is in our midst still. His gracious smile, genuine and sincere -- and full of hope and expectancy.

His hair, like a silver halo, graces his head like a crown. I see his face, a triangle restricted within the narrow confines of a rectangle. A straight line and a full stop -- a permanent half smile.

He moved almost imperceptibly. We hardly felt him as he stepped into the office, his unassuming and retiring personality, wins everyone over. His enquiring eyes look on from behind the thick lenses and big frames of his eye glasses. He's taking everything in.

We simply refused to treat him like an editor-in-chief. He didn't care much for formalities and he was a true democrat. He was a simple man at heart. The paper was his life.

He read the paper in its entirety, from the back page to the front and backwards -- passing through every news item, every analysis, commentary, opinion piece and every report. Gomaa's political cartoon, and Fathi's Black and White, and even my own portrait of the week.