Who are some of the other actors or artists of Lebanese heritage that you admire?
your aims in writing this book? Was there a message you wanted to impart to children?
Tony Shalhoub. My friend of years, the late Michael Ansara. Danny Thomas, Selma Hayek, and of course, Paul Anka, Omar Sharif, and many of the wonderful writers of music and shows and set designers we have had the good fortune to produce. I cannot remember their names at this time but they made an impact on me when I was growing up. Emil Kuri, I believe was one that just came to my mind. He was an award winning set designer, I believe.
Have the traditions of Lebanese culture remained an important part of your life?
I go to church every Sunday and take Communion. I love my Arabic food. I try to speak a bit of it here and there just to keep the memories of my childhood fresh. I love all of our holidays. All of the traditions that go with my Orthodox Easter and our Christian Christmas. I enjoy a glass of Arak now and then. I think of my grandparents on both sides of the family and the love I have for them. The gettogethers I experienced with the Arabic music, instruments, food and dancing. It is a rich culture and one I keep close to my heart. In 2003 you wrote a children’s picture book, Hababy's Christmas Eve, with your wife Joy, and illustrations by Alice io Oglesby. This tells the Christmas story from the point of view of the camels carrying the three wise men. What were We thought it would be an entertaining idea to bring the imaginary camel Habibi that Klinger used in MASH to life. We thought it would make a fun children’s book. So we came up with the idea that Habibi had a wife named Habeeba and had a baby named Hababy. We thought using the camels in the story of the birth of Christ was a good way to highlight their importance in the life of the little camel. We used other animals who were being told the story and made them important in the story itself, and we gave them the names of some of my childhood friends. It was a work of fun. Alice did a superb job with her illustrations.