Atlanta — Chinua was a dear friend. We first met more than forty years ago when he asked for my support with his literary journal OKIKE. And at a time when foundations did not think that writers deserved precious development funds, my admiration for him and his insights were such that I thought it was a no-brainer and we at the Ford Foundation provided him with general support for several years.

When President Carter was president and I was a party to his Nigerian trip planning, from my position on the Policy planning staff at the State Department, I suggested that we spare Mrs. Carter with a voluminous trip dossier and have her read instead THINGS FALL APART.  She did so and when they arrived at Murtala Muhammed Airport, President Carter mentioned how much they appreciated Chinua's book. Chinua watched the arrival from his home in Enugu and was startled to hear the shout out from the President! When I interviewed him for my book African Development Reconsidered several years later and  I mentioned that I had placed his book on the must read list for the Carters and he said that he had often wondered if I had had a hand in the Carter shout out.

I last saw Chinua in December, when he asked me to come to his Colloquium and introduce General Carter Ham. This was a very moving experience for me and we both cried when I arrived. Somehow I sensed that this might be the last time that I would see Chinua.

Chinua was a dear dear friend. But more than that he was the most perceptive observer of African life and thought that the continent has produced. We once discussed his not having been awarded the Nobel Prize and I can say now that he found the terms unacceptable.