After three years of outstanding services, writer and journalist Ghassan al-Imam, who has enriched Asharq Al-Awsat’s newspaper with his articles for over three decades, has passed away.
The late was like an encyclopedia that stores information and experiences in journalism, politics and media. He has worked in many press sites, in more than one newspaper and in more than one country.
He used to write in a beautiful language and a distinctive style attracting the reader to be keen to read his articles till the end.
His writings, over those years, have always been unique in their approach and how rich they were with knowledge about profound topics, which he had been watching closely, especially the Syrian issue.
He also had a column entitled "Shells and Pearls", in which he used to paint with words, in his own critical and sarcastic style, one of the characters who would be the spotlight of an event.
The late started publishing this column in the “Arab Week” magazine, which was issued from Paris, and then he published it in Asharq Al-Awsat before ending up to write his opinion pieces, which were published every Tuesday.
Imam’s long experience, which has started in the press work in Damascus before moving to Beirut and then to Paris, played a key role in the richness of the information he used to provide in his articles.
This experience gave him a good and deep knowledge of senior Arab politicians in the second half of the 20th century. In parallel with the serious and profound approach that drew the reader's’ attention to his articles, Imam’s sarcastic pen was another way to attract readers along with his attention to the accuracy of the information he used to provide in his topics.
A number of Asharq Al-Awsat writers, described Imam as an "authentic intellectual," "too accurate," and some said "he is neither a traditional writer nor a typical journalist or a scholar, yet he was a combination of a profound writer, curious journalist and an authentic intellectual.”
He has a special style in writing, ranging from poetry to prose, and the late was also distinguished with his rich memoirs and accounts of the political and media history of Syria and Lebanon.
