My Grandpa, the Hero

After finishing his book, RAJA'OUN, I was going to title this post, "my Grandpa, the author," but he is so much more than an author and much more deserving of the title, "hero." I just found this great article about him. It was written in 1982 and details his work and service when he served as Director of AMIDEAST, an organization that helps Arab students gain education in the United States. This picture shows my Grandpa (on the left) welcoming a visitor to the AMIDEAST Baghdad office in 1960.

In his years of retirement, Orin Parker has taken to writing books. RAJA'OUN: We Will Return is a moving novel about the triumphant return of Palestinians to their homeland. It is, of course, fiction. Described by the author as "wildly optimistic and unrealistic" it is a touching story that connects human emotion with political insight.

Recent years have taught me how lucky and rare I am to have grown up in an American family so sympathetic to the Arab community. By raising their family in the Middle East, my grandparents set an incredible standard for understanding Muslims, a group who was and still is misunderstood by the US population. Orin and Rita were open to adventure, to learning, and to acceptance of other people.

Their open-minded attitude is clearly expressed in this article, titled "A Life Among Muslims," written by my Grandpa and published in the Ensign six months after 9/11. It emphasizes similarities between Muslims and Mormons and if you have time, I recommend reading it.

Thanks, Grandpa, for sharing your understanding of a part of the world so few Americans know.