29 Oct Problem and Solution 8

Professor Ali Mazrui was a Kenyan scholar. Ceiling has read some of his writing, I haven’t. Ceiling isn’t too hot on him, especially because he said the man and Big Uncle Wole Soyinka used to seriously disagree. And Ceiling does not joke at all with Big Uncle Wole Soyinka.

Anyway, Prof. Mazrui was an important African scholar. He died recently and this is the heading of the obituary in The New York Times of October 20 2014 : “Ali Mazrui, Scholar of Africa Who Divided U.S. Audiences, Dies at 81”

Surely he did more than ‘divide US audiences?’ Surely dividing US audiences was not the most noteworthy—and therefore headline-worthy thing about his life? Headlines, as we know, give the reader the eyes with which to read a story.

Solution:

How about ‘Ali Mazrui – Controversial/Iconoclastic/Much-discussed/wide-ranging etc – Scholar of Africa, Dies at 81’

That would give him a bit more dignity. He deserves a bit more dignity.