John Christie OBE (1922-2001): an Arabist of his age

GSN’s long-serving editor and (from 1985 to 2000) proprietor, John Christie, was a man of action, and veteran of government and private sector operations across the Middle East and North Africa. A fluent and colloquial Arabist – Saudi King Faisal Bin Abdelaziz once summoned him to be flown up to Riyadh from Jeddah by saying ‘Send me the Syrian’ (a reference to John’s north Syrian accent) – he was known as the “sage” in many circles. John sold the title in 2000, before his death on 16 June 2001 after a long illness.