The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit
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Two authors of works on colonial Egypt must be singled out for special praise. Samir Raafat’s lively, witty books and articles were invaluable to me, and Artemis Cooper’s wonderfully detailed and charming book on World War II Cairo was a terrific resource.
I am grateful to the Egyptian government for welcoming me back to Cairo and offering me access to Jewish sites. Aaron Kiviat, a young American who lived and studied in Egypt, helped me plan my return. Carmen Weinstein, who carefully oversees what’s left of the Cairene Jewish community, kindly opened the doors to the Gates of Heaven and allowed me to visit the shrine of Maimonides.
Arnold Paster of Southampton, New York, was a grand and magical friend, encouraging me in the most difficult stages, convincing me that I could really accomplish this, and even surprising me with a bottle of Dom Pérignon when I completed the first draft. The essence of style, with a special fondness for wearing elegant white suits, Arnie became a kind of muse. He also helped me come to terms with my enigmatic father and to embrace his extremes and contradictions.
Rabbi Rafe Konikov and his wife, Chany, offered me a home away from home at the Chabad of Southampton Jewish Center. It was a haven, a place where I could reflect and where, little by little, ideas jelled: In the course of an ordinary Saturday-morning service, I would find myself thinking of Leon, and my thoughts were like a prayer. Once I looked up at the synagogue’s bay windows and swore I caught a glimpse of him in the garden, wearing one of his jaunty hats and looking my way. Afterward, I would strain to see him again, but I never did, except on the pages of my book, where I saw him constantly.
At the Wall Street Journal, no one was more encouraging or supportive than Paul E. Steiger, the managing editor who hired me. He has consistently been both mentor and friend. I revere his instinct and his intellect and all-abiding love. The Journal’s Daniel Hertzberg was deeply generous in granting me leave to work on the book, as was my editor, Joe White.
Arthur Gelb, the grand old man of the New York Times and its former managing editor and cultural czar, was wonderful and loving as only he can be and helped keep me focused—I cherish our friendship and deep bond.
Ken Wells, my former editor at the Journal and the author of many books himself, was profoundly encouraging to me throughout every step; he is the most exquisite and gifted role model and friend I can ever hope to have.
Doctors are a crucial part of this book and of my world. I am, as ever, grateful to Dr. Burton Lee, who was able to re-create scenes and events that took place more than thirty years ago. I consider Dr. Lee one of the great men on this earth, and I love him utterly and completely. I am also indebted to Dr. Ronald Schwartz who helped me bring Sharkskin to fruition. Finally, I owe much to my internist Dr. Jerome Breslaw, who has tried so hard to make me and keep me well.
Steve Solarz had wonderful insights into the Syrian-Jewish community he had come to know as their congressman.
Steve Olderman, a creative director at R/GA, was deeply generous in sharing ideas about the jacket and marketing of Sharkskin.
I want to convey special gratitude to the sublime Grace Edwards, the novelist of lost Harlem, and my teacher at Marymount’s Writing Center. It was Grace who heard the earliest iterations of The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit and taught me the value of reading one’s prose out loud. She is kindness incarnate. I am indebted to Lewis Frumkes, the Center’s director, for creating such a nurturing place. I am also grateful to my wonderful class at Marymount, who heard me read chapter after chapter and offered so much insight and help.
Clifford David was such a magnificent friend. He is a wonderful actor and a gentle force of nature.
Maryann Callendrille and Kathryn Szoka turned Canio Books in Sag Harbor into my favorite literary retreat on earth. In Southampton, Jack Biderman was deeply kind and encouraging; the most wonderful friend imaginable. My childhood friend Stella Ragusa was generous with her memories of her family and mine. George Getz and Sandy Becker, my New York accountants, gave me terrific financial counsel. Silvia Burgos and Kyle Spelman at the Journal gave me the technical support I needed to work. Daniel Pipes graciously answered my thousand questions about Cairo.
When I returned from Cairo in the spring of 2005, I visited Rabbi Raphael Benchimol of the Manhattan Sephardic Congregation and told him of the strange sensation that overcame me from practically the moment I was airborne, and continued as I explored the streets of my childhood—the feeling that my father was by my side.
A mystic at heart, the rabbi didn’t seem surprised. “We are taught that although people leave a place, their effect remains imprinted and permeated there for eternity. Their footsteps, going from their home to the synagogue and back, remain imprinted forever. Indeed,” he said, “even the air they occupied and the contour it shaped remain forever.”
I would never have been able to work on Sharkskin without my husband, Douglas Feiden, who listened to me read out loud every chapter—every word—that I had written, and offered profound, discerning, stern but always loving guidance. He accompanied me to Paris, Milan, Brooklyn, and Cairo and was with me when I knocked on the door of 281-Malaka Nazli Street, sharing my joy and my pain at being home finally and again.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Aldridge, James. Cairo: Biography of a City. Boston: Little, Brown, 1969.
Beattie, Andrew. Cairo: A Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Benin, Joel. The Dispersion of Egypt’s Jewry. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2004.
Cooper, Artemis. Cairo in the War, 1939–1945. London: Hamilton, 1989.
Danielson, Virginia. “The Voice of Egypt”: Umm Kulthum, Arabic Song, and Egyptian Society in the Twentieth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.
Heikal, Mohamed. The Cairo Documents: The Inside Story of Nasser and His Relationship with World Leaders, Rebels, and Statesmen. New York: Doubleday, 1973.
Hopkins, Harry. Egypt: The Crucible—The Unfinished Revolution in the Arab World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970.
Raafat, Samir W. Cairo, the Glory Years: Who Built What, When, Why and For Whom. Alexandria, Egypt: Harpocrates, 2003.
Rodenbeck, Max. Cairo: The City Victorious. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1999.
Stadiem, William. Too Rich: The High Life and Tragic Death of King Farouk. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1991.
Wilber, Donald N., ed. United Arab Republic, Egypt: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. New Haven, Conn.: HRAF Press, 1969.
NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
Al-Malky, Rania. “Where the Streets Have No Name.” Egypt Today, April 2005.
Eban, Suzy. “A Cairo Girlhood.” New Yorker, July 15, 1974.
Hassan, Fayza. “In the Pashas’ Den.” Al-Ahram Weekly Online, no. 459 (December 9–15, 1999).
———. “Sent Away: Who Was King Farouk?” Al-Ahram Weekly Online, no. 572 (February 7–13, 2002).
Heard, Linda. “Groppi: People’s Memories of the World’s Ritziest Tea-Room.” Community Times, October 2006.
Raafat, Samir. “Gates of Heaven.” Cairo Times, September 2, 1999.
———. “Groppi of Cairo.” Cairo Times, June 15, 1996.
———. “Resurrecting Street Names.” Cairo Times, May 11, 2000.
Sanua, Victor. “The Vanishing World of Egyptian-Jewry.” Judaism, Spring 1994.
Shaimaz, Fayed. “Downtown Cairo: Egypt’s Bohemian Rhapsody.” Community Times, November 2006.
WEBSITES AND OTHER NEW MEDIA
Bassatine News. Online Jewish newsletter from remaining Jewish community in Cairo. www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/5855/bassai.htm.
“The Golden Age of Egyptian Dance,” “Taheya Carioca aka Tahiyya Karioka,” and “Samia Gamaal.” Belly Dance Museum. www.belly-dance.org/ and www.venusbellydance.com.
IAJE, International Association of Jews from Egypt. www.iaje.org.
Kiviat, Aaron. “I Buried My Father’s Talis at Bassatine.” Letter dated November 25, 1999.
Historical Society of Jews from Egypt. HSJE.org (posted 2006).
Sakkal, Desire, ed. “General News and Information.” Historical Society of Jews from Egypt. www.HSJE.org.
MANUSCRIPTS AND ARCHIVES
Lagnado family file. HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), Paris and New York City, 1963–79. Courtesy HIAS.
Lagnado family file. NYANA (New York Association for New Americans), New York City, 1964–65. Courtesy NYANA.
Lagnado family file. COJASOR social service agency. Courtesy of Mémorial de la Shoah—Musée, Centre de Documentation Contemporaine, Paris.
Curriculum Vitae, Death Certificate of Salomon Lagnado aka Père Jean-Marie Lagnado. Courtesy Davide Silvera, Israel.
Red Cross. Letters to Salomone Silvera on the deportation of Bahia, Lelio, and Violetta Silvera to Auschwitz. Cairo, 1945–47.
About the Author
Story of faith, tradition, tragedy, and triumph.
Born in Cairo, LUCETTE LAGNADO is a senior special writer and investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal, where she has received numerous prizes for her work, including Columbia University’s Mike Berger Award, as well as honors from the National Press Club and the New York Press Club. She is the coauthor of Children of the Flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz, which has been translated into nearly a dozen languages.
Lagnado resides with her husband, journalist Douglas Feiden, in Manhattan and Sag Harbor, New York.
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OTHER BOOKS BY LUCETTE LAGNADO
Children of the Flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and
the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz
Credits
Jacket Design by Allison Saltzman
Jacket Photograph © Lehnert and Landrock
Copyright
THE MAN IN THE WHITE SHARKSKIN SUIT. Copyright © 2007 by Lucette Lagnado. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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