Mo H Saidi
www.mhsaidi.com

Prose
Esther and the Genius
Published December 2019

Synopsis

Esther and the Genius is the compelling story of the slow and tragic breakdown and dissolution of a prominent family. The life of Dr. Jordan Hartman, a successful but volatile professor, turns upside down with a call from his wife, Esther. Hartman is at the peak of his career; he has helped build the medical school into an internationally recognized research and treatment center. His attempt to save their teenage son Saul from a drug-selling goon ends in disaster. An avalanche of tragedy follows, involving the courts, the medical school, and ultimately destroying Hartman’s family.
The Marchers: A Novel
Mo H Saidi
Presently Scheduled for Publication 
on 20 June 2015

Foreword
 Robert L. Flynn

Professor Emeritus, Trinity University


Ask most Americans what they know about Iran and they will say, “Evil Nation.” If you point out that it’s more complicated than that, they will accuse you of “Blame America First.” But that does not get to the point, either. To fully realize Dr. Saidi’s compelling story about the chaos in Iran, you need to know a bit about Iran and the complicated history of Iran and the U.S. First of all, Iranians are not Arabs. They are mostly Persians, one of the world’s oldest civilizations, a people with a long history, including an empire far larger than the Roman Empire. The name of the country where most Iranians live is derived from Aryan, what Hitler called “the pure white race.” Their language belongs to the Indo-European world. Their culture influenced much of what we know as Judeo-Christian beliefs. Persia appears prominently in the Bible and in Greek history. Joined by the Medes, Medo-Persians created an empire in the 6th century BC that extended from Egypt to Northern India, including all of the Black Sea coast and most of Greece. The Medes and Persians joined forces with the Babylonians and Scythians to overthrow the greatest empire in the region, the Assyrian Empire, strengthening the Persian Empire and establishing the short-lived Neo-Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar, famous for forcibly relocating leading Jews to Babylonia following the destruction of Jerusalem. A generation later, Cyrus the Great, called a Messiah in the Bible, allowed the Jews to return to Judea and even provided an armed escort along the 500-mile journey. Some Jews remained in Persia and formed the nucleus of a vibrant Jewish community there that flourished until the modern Islamic state.

Ask most Americans what they know about Iran and they will say, “Evil Nation.” If you point out that it’s more complicated than that, they will accuse you of “Blame America First.” But that does not get to the point, either.
To fully realize Dr. Saidi’s compelling story about the chaos in Iran, you need to know a bit about Iran and the complicated history of Iran and the U.S. First of all, Iranians are not Arabs. They are mostly Persians, one of the world’s oldest civilizations, a people with a long history, including an empire far larger than the Roman Empire. The name of the country where most Iranians live is derived from Aryan, what Hitler called “the pure white race.” Their language belongs to the Indo-European world. Their culture influenced much of what we know as Judeo-Christian beliefs.
Persia appears prominently in the Bible and in Greek history. Joined by the Medes, Medo-Persians created an empire in the 6th century BC that extended from Egypt to Northern India, including all of the Black Sea coast and most of Greece. The Medes and Persians joined forces with the Babylonians and Scythians to overthrow the greatest empire in the region, the Assyrian Empire, strengthening the Persian Empire and establishing the short-lived Neo-Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar, famous for forcibly relocating leading Jews to Babylonia following the destruction of Jerusalem.
A generation later, Cyrus the Great, called a Messiah in the Bible, allowed the Jews to return to Judea and even provided an armed escort along the 500-mile journey. Some Jews remained in Persia and formed the nucleus of a vibrant Jewish community there that flourished until the modern Islamic state. 

The Garden of Milk and Wine
A Collection of Short Stories
Word Design Studio, 2012
Hardcopy & eBook
www.Amazon.com

Foreword

Robert L. Flynn

Professor Emeritus, Trinity University

Author of 10 novels, including Jade: Outlaw and Jade: The Law


I was teaching a class for Gemini Ink, San Antonio’s excellent nonprofit, independent writing program, to an ethnic mixture of students uniformed in blue jeans and tee shirts. Except for a dapper gentleman neatly dressed in slacks, coat, and tie. He was distinct in other ways as well, smaller and older than the others with an unfamiliar name and an unconventional accent.

   By the end of the class period I had learned that Mo was a doctor. That was worrisome. I had had doctors in class before, and doctors had little time to read literature or to write anything other than prescriptions. By the second class, I had learned that Mo was Persian. That was promising. Persians are an ancient culture and became the poets and writers of the Islamic Empire. Those best known to the West are the writer of One Thousand and One Nights; Zoroaster, who influenced Jewish and Christian prophets and theologians; Hafiz, a favorite of Ralph Waldo Emerson; Rumi, founder of the Sufi order; and perhaps the best known to those who read English, Omar Khayyám.

   I also discovered that Mo wasn’t a doctor who wanted to be a writer; Mo was a writer who wanted to be a doctor. I learned from others that he was a highly regarded professional who was loved by his patients. By the time the course was finished, I knew there was nothing I or anyone else could do to stop Mo from being a writer. All we could do was to encourage him and stay out of his way.

   Although the classes I taught were in narrative writing, the first time I heard Mo read he read poetry. The first time I saw Mo in print was in poetry.

  Mo has lived a wonderful life of learning with adventures in two cultures, two countries. Adventures in education, travel, medicine, science, religion, art, and literature. Adventures in delivering and saving lives. And he is allowing us to share these adventures in memorable stories in prose and poetry. This book is another sample of the riches still in store.
Female Sterilization: A Handbook for Women
M H Saidi and C M Zainie
New York, Garland STPM Press, 1979
Abstract
from http://www.popline.org/node/445241

This self-help handbook attempts to present information on female sterilization from 2 viewpoints, that of the physician and that of the prospective patient. Information presented was designed to include all aspects of female sterilization useful to potential candidates as well as information useful to counselors and physicians advising women about sterilization. The history of contraception and sterilization is briefly summarized. A rationale for the need for female sterilization in the context of world population problems is presented. A survey of female sterilization methods is followed by more specific information on the most preferred female sterilization methods, laparoscopy and minilaparotomy. Chapters also deal with motivations for the operation and present experiences of women who have undergone the procedures. Questions of morality, legality, and religion are not side-stepped. Possible reversals of procedures are discussed. The manual ends with a question and answer section on female sterilization.
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