The Last Note for the Last Days

Dear Friends and Colleagues,
During 3 years, Iranian Oral History Website has published 655 (Persian) and 64 (English) items in different fields of oral history; such as articles, reports, news, and … It has been visited over 44000 times from more than 40 countries. Oral History Weekly has also published 312 (Persian) and 96 (English) items during 13 issues. There have been more than 7000 visits from these items. This weekly has more that 800 Iranian and 300 foreign subscribers among academics and history experts. This site and weekly is now connected with many research centers around the presents their news to the visitors.
Let’s forget these boring matters.
 … Here is my word:
One of the characteristics of Oral History is the sincere and close relation between the narrator and the historian. Considering this matter I would write sincerely for you. During the last three weeks many, through their emails, contacts and callings have asked me “What has happened that I have left this site and weekly?”
You know that I am an Islamic Revolution History researcher and from beginning some opposed me for launching a website for Oral History in Iran. They believed that presence in virtual would deter my researches. However, I wanted to prove that all these can be followed side by side, although there were many impediments on my way. I passed 2007-8 with this condition. In 2009 the face of events changed dramatically and I was facing unbelievable events. Many friends of mine passed these events but I stopped. I could not write not because of impediments or the belief of people who considered virtual world as an unsuitable place for my job; but the fundamental changes in society, politics and culture deterred my pen from writing. I could not write anymore even though I challenged a lot. As a researcher who should answer the questions of today’s and tomorrow’s generations, I saw my self incapable in front of a big number of small questions. I asked myself how we should pass the truth to the next generation?! I interrupted and thought for some months in confusion…
And finally I found a new way. I asked myself why all individuals in society should not write their own history? So I thought of launching an online weekly in order to create a place for interaction between different ideas. A place where the methodology of writing history, travelogue, interview, oral history and diaries could be taught and by ascending the culture of writing history help the public to be historians. So I chanted “Let’s Publicize Oral History!”
But there were impediments on my way and it was not as easy as I thought at the beginning. Publishing each issue was harder than the previous one. At the end the fate brought me to a dilemma in order to choose “researching” or “working in the website and weekly”. I chose “research” in order to let my children, I mean the website and weekly, continue there life. I had to rehabilitate myself and being responsive to the officials for my lack of activity in research fields.
The Alphabet
My childhood passed in early revolutionary years. Then we had only two TV channels. My friends and I were used to watch the children’s program on Channel 1. Every Wednesday wherever I was I would run home to sit in front of our 24 inches black and white TV set to watch “Link-maker Uncle” (I think the its official name was “The kids sitting behind the window”). In this program there was an old man with a cane and rural hat in a class full of kids watching him enthusiastically. That old man would play different characters in his story to teach the alphabet by changing his voice or gesture. By narrating his story while playing the characters in it himself, he would teach the Persian alphabet in a unique and absolutely unprecedented method. No kid would feel that the time was over. At the end of class he used to say: “The party is over and …” and then the kids would start hitting the tables and shouting “No, No…” In the end we would see a poem by Hafiz that would read: “Let’s open the sky ceiling and draw a new design!”
That old man was the great artist the late Hassan Nayyerzadeh, teacher of ‘Alavi School. Years later I read somewhere that some time later he had gone to Television and asked for a copy of his recorded programs. But, unfortunately he heard that those tapes had been overwritten by some other programs…
And now I am thinking what is going to be written on my program?!

Appreciation
It is obvious that if there is any success for this site or weekly, it is the outcome of the work done by all of you, friends and colleagues. I kiss your hands to appreciate you. However it is a must for me to thank particularly Mr. Saeed Fakhrzadeh, my dear and old friend, who has always persuaded me, and also Mr. Mohammad Karimi who has accepted to manage these two and promised to keep them alive, Ms. Maliheh Kamaleddin who energetically pursued the administrative affairs and hardships, and Mr. Niknami who never said “No” to our reasonable or unreasonable demands for the artistic or technical designs of the website. I should also thank ladies: Monir Qaderi, Shafiqeh Niknafs, Melika Malakooti, Kobra Khorram, Maryam Asadi-Ja’fari, and Nastaran Poorsalehi; and the gentlemen: Alireza Kamari, Ali Tatari, Ghasem Ya-hosseyni, Hadi ‘Abedi, Ali Shirazi, Mahmmod Fazeli, Abulfazl Hassanabadi, Morteza Dehghannezhad, Ali Akbar Kajbaf, Morteza Rasoulipour, Moosa Bidaj, Seyyed Mohammad Sadat, Rahim Nikbakht, Mehdi Kamoos, Nosratollah Samadzadeh, Seyyed Mohammd Sadeq Feyz, Ahad Goodarziani, Ja’far Golshan, Mirza-baqer ‘Alian-nezhad, Daryoosh Koleyni, Mahdi Abulhassani, Qolamreza Azari Khakestar, Mohammd Nazarzadeh, Ahmd-reza Amiri Samani, Abulfazl Razavi, and …other friends that I have forgotten their names; the ones who contributed the website and weekly by their pen or tongue.
I should also thank our friends in other countries for their attention to Iranian Oral History Website and Online Weekly: Dr. Pablo Pozzi from Argentinean Oral History Association, Mr. Siobhan Warrington, Head of Oral Testimony Program from Britain, Albert Lichtblau from European Social Science History Conference (EESHC), and Dr. Hugo Monson from New Zealand.

The party is over and the life is ending;
We are still thinking how to interpret you
(Hafiz)

Regards,
Mohsen Kazemi
March 8th 2011