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July 05, 2007

Lisa and Nour

I'm not accustomed to hanging around with gorgeous, six-foot biker chicks who vote Republican.

But then, Lisa Ramaci-Vincent is unlike any other woman I've ever met.

Which is a good thing.

Rewind.

We met, like I meet most people these days, in cyberspace. Lisa's late husband, Steven Vincent, was the courageous journalist who wrote In the Red Zone, a gritty, honest look into post-Saddam Iraq. Whereas most mainstream journalists were chilling safely in the Green Zone, Steven Vincent went for the guts of the story in the Red Zone—and paid for his quest for truth. Steven Vincent was kidnapped by terrorists, tortured for five hours, then murdered.

Steven's translator, Nour al-Khal, was also shot and left for dead. More about this courageous Iraqi woman later.

Anyway.

Lisa and I met in virtual space. She had lost her beloved husband. Karen and I had lost our son. Lisa and I exchanged words, thoughts, social and political commentary. We comforted each other and sincerely hoped that one day we would meet face to face.

Here's what I've learned about cyber communication: people's words, their very grammar unmask who they really are. Personalities and patterns are quickly revealed. There is no wriggle room when language is your only weapon, your only defense. There are no clever diversionary tactics using body language; a woman cannot cutely flip her hair, coyly play with a split end; a man cannot puff up his chest, flex a non-existent muscle.

Every blogger I've ever met has been like a familiar friend. We're just picking up the thread of an old conversation. No surprises at all.

But Lisa.

Well.

FLASHBACK, A FEW MONTHS AGO — LOS ANGELES

She's arrived in my hometown and we arrange, finally, to meet. I drive to pick Lisa up at her hotel, expecting a well-groomed—honestly we all have our cliched images—Talbots Republican.

So: I pull up, and waiting outside the hotel I spot this biker babe in tight black pants, and white tank top. This certainly can't be Lisa whose eloquence reminds me of Emily Dickinson, cyber Lisa who writes grammatically perfect notes, not one word misspelled; e-mails filled with soaring patriotic rhetoric; and of course e-mails just bursting with love for her late husband Steven. I imagine Lisa in a dazzling white blouse with Peter Pan collar, single strand of pearls at her throat, and black, wool pencil skirt, maybe with pin stripes. I expect sensible footwear; chunky heels no higher than an inch-and-a-half.

But the biker chick is just sitting, sighing, obviously waiting, and so:

"Um, are you Lisa?"
"Robert?"

She stands up.

And does not stop standing for about two minutes. We're talking Amazonian Biker Chick.

I adjust.

Hollywood has taught your not-so-humble-scribe some valuable lessons in social interaction.

It's time for lunch.

"How about pizza?"
"Love pizza."
"I can only offer Kosher pizza."
"Never had Kosher pizza."
"You're in for a unique dining experience."

Optimistic me.

"Lisa, we're gonna walk a few blocks, you might wanna, um, change into walking shoes."
"These are my walking shoes, Robert."

Lisa is wearing, I kid you not, four-inch dagger stilletos.

"Okey-dokey."

The Hasidic kids in my neighborhood? Eyes wide as saucers as Lisa and I walk down the street toward the kosher pizza shop.

"Hey Yossie, hey, Mendel, hey Rivkie, what's new and exciting?"

I'm trying to be nice and casual, but I think I'm coming off kind of like: Hey, this tall, cool glass of water with me? Barely know her.

The kids are speechless. Their jaws are on the pavement. One Hasidic lad is twisting his peyes, sidelocks, so hard I fear he's going to rip them right from his poor skull.

I'm thinking maybe when I'm in shul next I should go, have a talk with their parents, explain that the young lady is, um, an actress I'm working with?

A Stranger Among Us II: The Biker Chick Baal Teshuva.

I give up.

Life is sooo complicated when your Orthodox and, er, in the real world.

Lisa Ramaci-Vincent. She's my hero. She makes me think of:

1. Antigone.
2. The Prophetess Devorah.
3. Cool biker chicks from movies I was not suppose to watch as a Yeshiva kid but watched anyway, you betcha.
4. Ann Coulter.
5. Audrey Hepburn.
6. Go figure.

Kosher pizza, great conversation, and get this: Lisa loves The Seven Samurai. She even met Toshiru Mifune, the great star of this greatest of movies.

Lisa has lost her husband. But she has not lost her will to live a meaningful life. She speaks of Nour al-Khal, Steven's translator, a brave woman who refused to abandon Steven even as the terrorists shoved her away, told her that they had no interest in her. Lisa is determined to obtain Nour's safe passage to America where Nour can begin life anew.

I have no doubt that Lisa, a mighty woman, will do what she sets out do to for Nour, another mighty woman.

We have been told that the jihadists are too strong, too determined, too ruthless, and that we cannot beat them. This is an infamous lie. With women like Lisa and Nour, western civilization will triumph.

Serapahic Friend David Paulin writes eloquently of Lisa and Nour al Khal:

The late Steven Vincent’s award-winning Iraq reporting owed much to his Iraqi translator and media assistant – a remarkable young woman named Nour al-Khal.

She was shot and left for dead on August 2, 2005, hours after she and Vincent were kidnapped off a Basra street. They were forced into a car by men wearing police uniforms. Vincent, a freelancer on his third trip to post-Saddam Iraq, was savagely beaten and shot to death – the only American journalist to date who has been murdered in Iraq.

To read the rest of the story, please click here

Here's an excellent article from World Defense Review by Abigail R. Esman.

And this story, from The N.Y. Times, that includes a picture of Lisa and Nour together, at last, in Lisa's N.Y apartment.

Order Steven Vincent's excellent book In the Red Zone, one of the finest books I have ever read about post-Saddam Iraq,; this book is already a classic.

And make sure to visit The Steven Vincent Foundation, contribute what you can. It's a fine way of remembering a courageous and honest man.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at July 5, 2007 12:05 PM

Comments

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Posted by: Katherine at July 5, 2007 05:54 PM

Posted by: Solomon2 at July 5, 2007 06:00 PM

Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at July 5, 2007 06:03 PM

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Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at July 6, 2007 09:56 AM

Posted by: Abigail Esman at July 7, 2007 09:49 AM

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