However, Said’s interests surpassed English literature. He also worked closely with the famous Argentinian-Israeli pianist and composer Daniel Barenboim to create the West-East divan Orchestra.

He wrote for several Middle Eastern newspapers, including the Palestinian Al-Hayat and the Egyptian Al-Ahram.

Though he frequently spoke out about events in the Middle East, Said—who once served on the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s governing council—attempted for the most part to remain outside the political fray.

“[Said] is a critic, not a political leader. He wants to be outside politics so he openly criticizes Yasser Arafat,” Waters said. “He found it essential to keep the distance from the movement.”

But though Said criticized Arafat for the use of force on his own people, the Palestinian president praised Said last week in Pakistan’s Daily News.

“With his departure, humanity has lost its eminent genius who had actively contributed to every cultural, intellectual and creative fields,” Arafat said.

Opponents condemned Said’s nationalist political stance as extreme and anti-Israel.

But Said described himself as a supporter of “just peace.”

“I am for peace. And I am for negotiated peace,” Said told the International Herald Tribune in 1999.

Said hoped for the creation of a “bi-state” which would provide equal rights to both Palestinians and Israelis, which he said the Oslo agreement of 1993 failed to do.

Despite his attempts to avoid direct political involvement, Said recently sparked controversy during a 2000 visit to the Middle East by throwing a stone across the Lebanese border toward an Israeli guardhouse. Columbia did not censure Said for the incident; a university spokesperson said that Said did not hurt anyone but was exercising his academic freedom.

Said was diagnosed with leukemia in 1992 and seemingly retreated to working with music for the last three years of his life. The importance of his work, however, was not and will not be forgotten, according to Waters.

“The impact of his death will be considerable,” she said, “because who else can be so brave, in the climate of fear and conformism? Said was a model for people.”

After Said’s extensive scholarship and advocacy work, Waters added, “all we can do is be less afraid tomorrow.”