Last update - 00:00 05/03/2008
Hundreds mourn Haaretz's Ehud Asheri, 'soldier of wisdom'
By Asaf Carmel, Haaretz Correspondent
Hundreds of people attended the funeral Tuesday of journalist and author Ehud Asheri, who died Monday of cancer at the age of 57.
Among the mourners were many of Asheri's colleagues from his days as editor of Kol Ha'ir, of the weekly magazine of the newspaper Hadashot, and Haaretz weekly magazine. Asheri was also Haaretz's television critic, a columnist, and the author of five books.
Asheri's eldest daughter, Gil, said in her eulogy, "even though you were closed and tough, you were always sensitive and so loving."
Journalist Avner Avrahami described Asheri's last moments as "the end of a battle you had been fighting since you found out about your illness at the end of 2006. You never stopped planning and organizing, fulfilling your obligations to page B1. Writing for you was a sign of victory."
Colleague Yarin Kimor said: "There were so many faces behind Udi's closed face. Conflicting sides on the one hand and complementary sides on the other. The whole was always greater than the sum of its parts - although Udi would root out that cliche right away."
Kimor described Asheri as a "self-appointed general and soldier firing "thin precise arrows of wisdom against the cannons of affectation and superficiality."
Kimor said Asheri prefered not to talk about his illness. "'I don't want to be a medical bulletin board,' you said. 'My job in life is not to be a cancer patient.' Five days before the end I asked him if he had the strength to advise me on something. 'Of course,' he said. 'That's what I'm here for.'"
Kimor called the funeral "a protest rally against the dozens of years this man, rich in abilities, and above all, loving, would not have."