- Iranians holding Ashura mourning for Imam Hussein
- Third step: Iran officially informs EU of plan to expand nuclear R&D
- Iran expands nuclear R&D program: Rouhani
- Iran goes ahead in space tech, despite US sanctions: ISA
- Resistance Front undermining Israeli regime power: Top commander
- Iran: 7 crew members of detained UK ship freed
- US addiction to sanction threaten its power: Iran’s Zarif
- Dutch role in 2007 Stuxnet attack on Iran’s nuclear site under scrutiny: Iraian FM Spox.
- Iran: ‘Sustainable Security 2019’ kicks off in Caspian Sea
- Iran’s Zarif leaves Tehran for Moscow
- Shiraz University ranked 1st in liver transplantation: Iranian health official
- Japan’s Abe to meet Iran’s president to discuss easing tension in region
- Downing of US spy drone shattered war threats against Iran: Top IRGC commander
- IAEO head reports development of first ion-therapy hospital in west of Asia
- Iranian Taekwondo team wins 2019 World Cup championship
- US sanctions failed to force Iran to buckle: Report
- Crew fixing Iran oil tanker broken down in Red Sea
- As Iranians hold nerves, US seeks to scare off trade
- Leader expresses concern about Kashmir, urges India to follow fair policy toward Muslim-majority region
- Iran saffron exports down due to smuggling, government restrictions: Exporter
- Iran FM warns US against ‘serious miscalculation’ in Persian Gulf
- Iran’s resistance policy led to release of oil tanker: MP
- Iran in reverse brain drain as top students come home in rising numbers
- Iran official calls for compensation for tanker seizure
- Iran hails N Korea for standing against ‘unilateral’ US demands
- Shia Muslims celebrate Eid Al-Ghadir
- North Korea praises Iran’s anti-US struggle
- Zarif says to meet French president Friday
- Iranian court hearing case of UK oil tanker
- Over half of Japanese voters oppose joining US-led anti-Iran coalition in Persian Gulf: Poll
- IME trade ups by 21 percent in July
- Finland backs INSTEX in defiance of US
- US anti-Iran policy in high seas harms Europeans: LA Times
- Iran, China confer on Syria
- Iran, Finland share views on Persian Gulf dialogue forum: Zarif
- Iran warns US against seizure of oil tanker
- Iraq eager to benefit from Iranian Police’s experience
- Iran planning 3rd step to reduce nuclear commitments: Spokesman
- Leader grants clemency to over 1,000 Iranian inmates
- Registration for Arbaeen Pilgrimage to begin in Iran on Friday
- Iran, Iraq agree to reopen Khosravi border crossing
- Iran deplores suicide attack at Kabul wedding hall
- Iran to hold int'l hand-woven carpets expo
- Zarif meets with Iran-Kuwait Friendship Group members
- Adrian Darya oil tanker not under any sanctions, says Iran envoy
- ‘Iran to stay in nuclear deal as long as its interests are met’
- India envoy happy with positive trend of trade with Iran
- Iran’s annual export of white meat tops 2.5m tons: Minister
- Iranian scientist discovers new state of matter
- Iran, Japan diplomats discuss bilateral ties
- Iran, Ansarullah, European representatives Yemen developments
- ‘Iran to become self-sufficient in producing aircraft engines'
- US issues seizure warrant for Iranian supertanker 'Grace 1'
- Neanderthal tooth unearthed near Iran’s Zagros mountain
- Iran’s Zarif due in Kuwait on Saturday
- US faces humiliating defeat after Gibraltar releases Iranian tanker: Envoy
- Spokesman rejects claim on Iran’s commitment in exchange for tanker release
- Zarif reacts to release of Iranian tanker in Gibraltar
- Israel, UAE engaged in secret talks on Iran arranged by US: Report
- US threatens visa ban as Iranian-operated tanker sets to sail from Gibraltar
- Enemies must factor Iran's global power in their calculations: IRGC's chief commander
- Trump’s administration conflicting messages to Iran baffle go-betweens: Report
- Gibraltar releases Iran-operated tanker despite US pressure
Tehran, YJC. His tales from Old Iranian literature not only led to American writer’s debut, but attracted many international tourists.
In 1960 the Irish American Mr. Ward came to Iran on a mission in the oil section to settle in Velenjak, northern Tehran. They would hire Hassan as the culinary servant, who would settle in the house with his family.
The two families grew increasingly intimate. Hassan would tell the young Wards stories from the Shahnameh, Arabian Nights, and other Old Iranian literature, in which they would grow avid interest.
Mr. Ward’s mission then was over in the fifth year and they went back to their homeland. The events of the Iran of the 70s and 80s kept the two families in dark to each other. The Wards would worry for Hassan and his family amid the tumultuous currents.
After nearly three decades they decided to find Hassan in a blind odyssey back to Iran, while all they could rely on was an old photo and the name of Hassan’s birth place which they only knew to sound something like "Tudeshk”.
First they started by searching online maps and they found the place somewhere around Isfahan. But as they decided to make their journey to Iran, they had already been disheartened by folks who had warned them of an allegedly unfavorable atmosphere in the post-Hostage Crisis country. Gathering their sons each busy working in a different country, the Wards headed for Iran.
Having searched much and grown exhausted as they did not find any trace of Hassan, the Wards would decide to go back, only for Mrs. Ward who would demand the family keep searching some more. It happened so then that they found a descendent of Hassan. After that they found Hassan’s mother-in-law, Khorshid, in Tudeshg quite hale and kicking. So it was that they found Hassan and his family in Isfahan in 1998.
The Wards’ second son, Terence, would then decide to write a book in which he would relate the story of Hassan and their search for him, a book which came to be titled Searching for Hassan and translated into Italian, French, German, Indonesian, and Persian.
Knowing himself indebted to the
stories Hassan would tell him when young, Terence gave the old master a sum of money
he had made from his book.
"We had been given a gift as young children, by Hassan Ghasemi, our cook and master storyteller in the extraordinary country of Iran. My three brothers and I wept when we said our goodbyes to him on our last day in 1969. Aftera long separation of almost 30 years, manyquestions haunted us: the chaos of the Revolution, the brutal Iraq War. So, our journeyback to find Hassan, who had injected so much love into our lives, was a complete miracle for us all.Searching for Hassan is an attempt to repay, maybe that’s not the right word, I am trying to honor the gift that we have been given. My wife and I are writers. We do not seek stories, they find us,” Terence had told Iranian in 2005.
"At a time when Islamic culture and Muslim societies have never seemed more forbiddingly mysterious or more important to understand, Terence Ward’s informative and touching new memoir provides a marvelously nuanced portrait of Iran-its landscape, its rich history, and, most important, its people. As we strain to see beyond generalizations and abstractions about this enigmatic and fascinating culture, Ward's book yields telling details, revealing incidents, and deeply personal experiences, and he introduces us to men and women who are more complex and sympathetic - and more like us - than we might have imagined…. Eventually, and against all odds, they find Hassan and his family. Their reunion is a heartening testament to the enduring power of friendship and human connection, and to how bounds of loyalty and love can survive the ravages of history and time, and can bridge the deepest and most perilous divides created by politics, culture and religion,” has commented Francine Prose in Elle Magazine, quoted along with a set of other critical observations.
Your Comment