Noted author and journalist Arthur Pais passes away

Rediff.com regrets to inform you that our dear colleague Arthur J Pais passed away in New Jersey on Friday.

Arthur, an Editor at Rediff.com and India Abroad -- the Indian-American newsweekly owned by Rediff.com -- was 66.

After a distinguished career in Indian journalism, Arthur and his wife Betty moved to the United States in the early 1980s.

He was a prolific writer and no subject -- films, literature, social trends, news -- escaped his attention. His insatiable curiosity and diligence enlivened every feature he wrote and his loss is an irreplaceable loss to all of us at Rediff.com

When informed about Arthur's passing, Salman Rushdie replied: 'This is sad news indeed. My condolences to his family and to all of you, his colleagues. Thanks for letting me know.'

Actress and cook book writer Madhur Jaffrey wrote: 'Very sad to hear the news.'

Tributes to Arthur from colleagues and friends in the US and India were posted on Facebook:

Aseem Chhabra, Rediff.com columnist and contributor:

Today I lost a man who was my 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.

I went for my first film interview with Arthur Pais. Well, he was going to interview Pagli Ji (aka Mira Nair) and I begged him to let me tag along with him. I told him I would pretend I was his photographer.

It was 1983 and I had just finished Columbia J School. The interview was about Mira's documentary So Far From India. I had seen the film at MoMA and had loved it.

We went to Mira's apartment on the UWS -- I think it was on 118th and Amsterdam. Three of us ended up having such fun conversations. And I loved the idea of talking to a filmmaker soon after I had seen her film.

And that's how I started writing about films. Arthur opened up this world for me.

I will miss him!

Pagli Ji (director Mira Nair):

Arthur Pais was wonderful warm and memorable...

Arun Venugopal, Correspondent PBS:

Arthur J Pais, a dear friend and my first journalism mentor died today.

I received the news from a former coworker at India Abroad/Rediff, where I worked with Arthur, years ago. A lot of you would've seen his byline, and maybe were even interviewed by him for the first time in your life, when your book had just been published or your film was about to be released -- he was an insanely prolific and passionate writer who took great pleasure in exposing new voices to the world.

He was also kind of a nut -- a character like no one I've ever met, who knew the most obscure and salacious details about Bollywood screen legends, about writers and editors, and New York itself, the city as it once was, unvarnished and vulgar and ripe with possibility.

We could be dirty around each other, and took great delight in each other's inappropriate thoughts, and when I left for public radio it made me sad to think I was leaving that behind, and him.

He believed in our craft and, most importantly, in those of us who were entering into it.

Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer, Metropolitan Museum of Art:

RIP, ARTHUR PAIS, journalist, friend and mentor to so many in the NYC and SAJA worlds.

He had been ill for a long time and is in a better place now.

My prayers for his soul and his soulmate, Betty.

He was so quiet, so kind, so generous. Anytime I needed help or SAJA needed help, he would jump at the opportunity. But he was often keen that he not be acknowledged in any way.

A fun, wonderful man who loved writing, cooking, eating and listening to music, both Western and Indian. And he knew more about all of those than almost anyone I know.