A Swiss in Lebanon

Remember this cover of the July/August issue of Aramaco World Magazine in 1975? Even if you don't remember the cover, very likely you remember the article inside "A Swiss in Lebanon" by Jackie Drucker. Aramco magazine has their back issues online and you can read the online article about BHS in its 70s heyday all over again.

Sadly though, the photographs are not online. I have a copy of the magazine and if any one wants to see the photos, I can scan and email them upon request. They are some great photos, really capturing well BHS in the days we remember so fondly.

(I have to insert a thanks to my mom here who saw the old magazine in an antique store all the way over in East Texas, bought it and sent it to me.)

Who remembers when the photographer, Khalil Abou El Nasr, came to BHS in preparation for this article? Was author Jack Drucker with him? What do you recall of that day? It would be a huge longshot, but I wonder if the other photographs of that shoot survive anywhere and could be obtained?

Aramco World Magazine -- in print and online -- is an absolute treasure trove. It's amazing that it is a free publication. Here are a few other articles about Brummana available to read online at their site:

• Waldemeir's Watercolors, Jan/Feb 1976. Again, no images, even though I distinctly remember them online at one point. I'll ask Mom to be on the lookout for this issue as well.
• A Lifelong Journey, Jul/Aug 1993. About English woman and author Freya Stark, who spent a lifetime of adventures and explorations in the Middle East in the early to mid part of last century. In 1927, as a young woman, she had her first introduction to a lifetime of travel in Brummana, where she spent her ver first stay abroad, spending the winter there. (She even had an unrequited crush on one of the BHS teachers.)
• The Bonfils Story, Nov/Dec 1983. A brief mention of the village of Brummana in this article about the photographer family of Beirut, the Bonfils.

Addedum: I just finished looking for information on the photographer, Khalil Abou El Nasr, and found a memorial to him after his death in Beirut after a long illness in Aramco World, Mar/Apr 1977 issue. I wonder if his wife Awatif, or one of his four children, kept his photos and negatives?