Renowned scientist searched for his mystery angel for 30 years

October 11, 2019 10:35 AM

Case closed. Groundbreaking scientist Mahmoud Ghannoum has been telling the story for almost 30 years, how one generous act by a stranger in Washington, DC made his remarkable life possible. This stranger changed the course of an entire family’s life — and maybe even an entire field of science — thanks to his generosity that day.
posted by wicked_sassy (12 comments total)

As noted in that story, it's a follow-up to this earlier one, which can be read first.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 10:41 AM on October 11, 2019 [4 favorites]

That's Real America.
posted by biogeo at 10:45 AM on October 11, 2019 [10 favorites]

Thank you for posting this; I missed the original story and would not have read about these two men otherwise. Feeling very emotional right now after having read both articles.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:49 AM on October 11, 2019 [6 favorites]

But Elaine said she’s satisfied that the story will live on, that her sweet husband’s impulsive act of kindness produced good in the world.

Those acts of kindness produced a mountain of good. This instance it might be outsized and worthy of newspaper ink, but every time he helped someone, just to help them, increased the amount of good in the world. Mr. Dorsey was what we should all aspire to be.
posted by DigDoug at 10:54 AM on October 11, 2019 [14 favorites]

Most of us never know the impact of the little things that we do, but I'm convinced that most of us have moments in our lives when we've done someone a kindness that had impacts that went well beyond the place and time. Maybe not as big an impact as this one, but something, some act of humanity that made someone's life better in an appreciable way for a long time. You can't know in advance which acts those might be and you might never know after either, but it's worth taking the time and energy and money to be kind, just in case.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:58 AM on October 11, 2019 [14 favorites]

This kind of stuff blows my mind. The tiniest thing can make the biggest difference. I think its lovely that Ghannoum never forgot the act of kindness and shared that story often; I'm glad he got some closure.
posted by NoraCharles at 1:07 PM on October 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

I only seem to be able to get the first paragraph. What am I doing wrong? (Besides probably being gripped in a battle with WaPo's paywall?)
posted by hoyland at 4:15 PM on October 11, 2019

hoyland...Try opening it in incognito mode. You also have to scroll down past some adverts.

I am just amazed at what a solid good deed Mr. Dorsey did. And it was no small thing when he knew that he could be fired for his help. Plus, he gave him a significant amount of money for thirty years ago. This was no small act of good; it was reaching out to lift someone else up high above floodwaters. May we all have the gumption to do likewise.
posted by mightshould at 5:22 PM on October 11, 2019 [4 favorites]

.Angel indeed.
posted by Oyéah at 8:33 PM on October 11, 2019

Turning off javascript for the Wash Post site renders their paywall inert. There are add-ons for every browser that let you selectively block javascript by site.

And after reading this story I'm going to get off the Internet and stay off the rest of the day, letting the positivity of this story be the news that sticks with me today.
posted by COD at 7:50 AM on October 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

feels thematically connected to this previously

I need to go sit on this story for a while and think about how I can carry it forward in my own behavior.
posted by Cozybee at 11:29 PM on October 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Oh this is so lovely. Its a bit dusty in here. What a huge difference in someones life that brief kindness meant - to be moved by a stranger's story to use whatever powers you have for good. May we all have the courage to do the same when we can.
posted by cabin fever at 10:55 AM on October 13, 2019