The Foreign Service Journal, October 2004

winning personality. That a senior, experienced diplomat so easily devel- oped friendly relationships with passers-by in the hallway, to the extent that we could have several in-depth conversations about the future of the department, is uncommon and under- scores Amb. Horan’s great dedication to all members of the Foreign Service. He will be missed. Benjamin Dille Management Officer Minsk, Belarus N O F OREIGNER S POKE A RABIC S O F LUENTLY … Hume Horan was the officer in charge of the branch office of the American Embassy in Baida, Libya, from 1964 to 1966. His principal function at this very small post was to maintain liaison with the members of the Libyan government, chiefly from the Foreign Office, who went to Baida whenever the king, who normally lived in Tobruk, was in residence. In that capacity, Hume had an excellent opportunity to use his Arabic skills and his knowledge of Arab culture. One such opportunity occurred when the Libyan landlord from whom the embassy rented the small office and two or three other buildings sud- denly demanded an increase in the rent the embassy paid to him. When Hume pointed out that the embassy had a lease that still had a long time to go and that the rent was set out in the lease, the Libyan landlord continued to insist on an increase. Hume went to the Foreign Office official in Baida with whom he usually dealt and told him why the United States could not agree to breaking the lease. The Libyan official, clearly unhappy, pointed out that Baida had practically no surplus housing and that the pressure was on everybody to pay more. He also noted that the Libyan landlord was very well connected to a local family and tribal society. The Libyan official wondered what Hume expected him to do. He had no ideas himself. All this conversation was in Arabic. Hume suggested to the Libyan official that the United States would be will- ing to consider an increase in the rent if the rents of everyone else in Baida were also being increased. To clinch his point, Hume noted, still in Arabic, that the Koran, after all, points out that “the sun shines for everybody.” The Libyan official smiled and said he would look into the matter further. Hume heard nothing more about a possible rent increase. Through his fluency in Arabic and his intimate knowledge of the Arabic culture, he had saved the American taxpayer money that he would otherwise prob- ably have had to pay. Later, after he had been assigned to the department as Libya desk offi- cer, Hume accompanied the assistant secretary of the bureau on the latter’s visit to Libya, which was part of a larg- er trip the officer was making to Africa. Hume served as the inter- preter for the assistant secretary in the meetings with high-ranking Libyan officials, and, at times, seemed to be interpreting for the Libyans. After one such session that lasted over an hour, the Libyan foreign minister, who spoke perfect English, expressed his astonishment to an American who was present at Hume’s fluency in Arabic. He said he had never heard any for- eigner speak the language so perfect- ly, catching every nuance, and finding for his Arab listeners words that it would be very difficult to translate from English into Arabic. James J. Blake Ambassador, retired Washington, D.C. L ASTING M EMORIES I served with Amb. Horan in Cameroon as Peace Corps Director from 1979 to 1981. Although new to working with the Peace Corps, Amb. Horan adopted his own style of recog- 68 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4