Veteran New York-based editor Arthur J. Pais, for whom journalism was more of a passion than a profession, passed away in New Jersey Jan. 8 after a brief illness.
Pais was 66, and is survived by his wife Betty Pais.
Pais had an illustrious career spanning more than three decades in journalism in the United States, and wrote for many reputable publications, including in India Abroad where he was an editor for nearly 15 years. He also briefly taught journalism at a New York university.
Less than a week after his death in New Jersey, his home for the past several years, his friends and admirers poured messages of condolence and respect for the man who helped them keep in touch with the community in the United States though his widely-read columns.
And through the myriad emails and postings, the one message that stood out was that Arthur J. Pais was wedded to journalism from day one, and in love with written words, perhaps more than many other Indian-American scribes, in the ethnic media world in the United States.
“Arthur was the story-teller of our community. He had looked increasingly frail in recent years but his writing was always strong, top-notch, be it on any subject,” said Lavina Melwani, a freelance journalist and co-founder of Children’s Hope India, from New York.
Melwani could not be more apt in describing him as a story-teller.
Through the web of myriads of news reports on the internet and the dailies and weeklies, Pais had the ability to select the right one concerning the community and to write a news report that would touch millions of readers.
His stories spanned a wide range – from films, politics, to economics. He walked every field of reporting with equal ease. He had a particular passion for writing about films, and foods of various genres. Many times before writing a column, he would try his hand at cooking different types of foods at home, seeking to infuse some “unique Indian taste or flavor” into anything he was cooking.
This correspondent, who worked under his tutelage as a rookie reporter for more than a decade in New York, remembers what Pais once told him.
“Don’t look for what is the most important element in a story. Focus on what is the most interesting. For, that is what will keep your readers engaged, and remember that you write for your readers.”
Others, who paid their condolences to Pais, included author Salman Rushdie and cookbook-writer Madhur Jaffrey.
“This is sad news indeed. My condolences to his family and to all of you, his colleagues,” Rushdie was quoted as saying by Rediff. “’Very sad to hear the news,” wrote Jaffrey on Rediff.
Aseem Chhabra, Rediff.com columnist and contributor, said that he has lost a man who was his first real friend in America. “Arthur Pais was a real support to me during my early days as a journalist in New York. He loved films and we bonded on classics, filmy gossip and old Bollywood songs. Later, at a time when I had given up journalism, Arthur again opened up my world to writing and reporting, and gave me the opportunity to become a better journalist.”
One journalist, who knew Pais, said that despite his frail health, he continued doing the best reporting. “He might have been in frail in recent years, but his pen was as mighty and powerful as ever.”
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