Back in August, I blogged about Lisa Ramaci-Vincent’s response to Professor Juan Cole’s suggestion that her late husband, journalist Steven Vincent, had been killed in Iraq because he was having an affair with his translator. She explained what her husband was really up to, and if you don’t know the story, you ought to read it.
In additional to blogging the story, I also emailed her a brief note telling her that I admired her fortitude at such a difficult time, and expressing my sympathy for her loss. I wasn’t expecting her to respond—she has a lot more important things to do than send out Thank You notes to online strangers—and I didn’t get a response.
Until now.
Her email is about 400 words long and starts with an apology for not getting back to me sooner. She’s been busy attending memorials for her husband and setting up the Steven Vincent Foundation. Then she thanked me for my note, expressed her hope that I’ve read her husband’s book (In The Red Zone) and told me how much she misses him. She closes by asking me to spare a thought for Steven Vincent and his message.
I’m paraphrasing rather than just posting the message because I never told her I’d be posting the response. I wasn’t expecting a response at all, except maybe a polite “thank you.” I sure didn’t expect a personal note. I’m a bit stunned by such graciousness.
Update: I asked Mrs. Ramaci-Vincent for some more information about the Steven Vincent Foundation and she tells me that it will aid the families of murdered journalists and stringers from the developing world. Unlike Western journalists, these people do not have large media corporations and life insurance to provide for their families if they are killed. In addition, the foundation will also help women living in dangerous parts of the world. She’s still working on setting up a proper 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and getting a web site up and running. Meanwhile you can find out a little more information at Kesher Talk, especially in the BlogAds to the right.
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