The Essence of Massoud
In an oral history, Webster alumna Marcela Grad captures the voice of the martyred Afghan leader

Marcela Grad spoke at Webster’s St. Louis campus as part of the promotional tour for “Massoud.”

Legendary military leaders are often described as the kind who bravely walk through the battlefield, upright and unscathed as explosions and violence erupt all around them. Seldom are they depicted as the kind who read poetry to their troops and lend them the shoes off their feet.

But both descriptions are true of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the legendary Afghan leader and Taliban opponent who was assassinated by two suicide bombers posing as journalists on Sept. 9, 2001.

In the years that followed, Webster University alumna Marcela Grad was moved by images of Massoud to dig deeper into his story – a story relatively unknown to Western eyes outside of its tragic end preceding the attacks of 9/11.

What she found was an educated, complex, charismatic, and selfless man who inspired followers like few others have – a man befitting the moniker, “Afghan legend.”

“He trusted the men under his command and worked hard to maintain their morale. He taught them ethics and piety more than military issues, and he was kinder to them than a father, closer than a brother.”

—Daoud Zulali

After four years of interviewing friends, family members, and people who knew Massoud in English and with the help of interpreters, plus four more years of writing and editing, Grad has put together what amounts to an oral history of the man – and a window into the heart of Afghan culture. Her book, Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader, the latest publication of the Webster University Press, is the first Western nonfiction book written in English about Massoud.

In the words of Webster anthropologist Don Conway-Long, who wrote the book’s foreword: “Massoud is not a conventional academic tome; instead, it is a meditation encompassing many voices from many places … the result of listening to and transcribing voices, leaving the work of interpretation to the reader.”

The book is indeed a fascinating and one-of-a-kind look into a man and his culture. Its cascade of voices provides a multi-textured witness to Massoud’s 48 years on Earth, providing insight into how Massoud inspired so many of his countrymen. Structured in vignettes for reading in small episodes, it instead pulls the reader in like an epic story told around an Afghan campfire, captivating listeners into the wee hours of the night.

For Grad, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the journey toward writing this composition began with a chance invitation from friends in Los Angeles. They told her she must come watch the French documentary Massoud l’Afghan by Christophe de Ponfilly. Upon watching Massoud on film, her mission began.

“It was his eyes,” recalls Grad, a 1993 graduate of Webster’s Spanish language program. “Watching that film, something struck me when I saw Massoud’s eyes and the eyes of his followers. It was just a special moment for me, and he had such a profound story. I immediately began thinking of ways to approach it.”

That resulting picture includes Massoud as wise older brother; as teenage guide and protector to the younger boys in his village; as revolutionary leader after an Afghan coup in the 1970s; as mujahideen leader against the Soviet occupation throughout the 1980s; as commander who fed and respected prisoners rather than – as his opponents did – execute them; as Afghan defense minister in the early 1990s before resigning in a bid to end civil war; as leader of the fight against Taliban control of his country; and as Afghan diplomat and driver of the Declaration of the Essential Rights of Afghan Women.

“The night Hekmatyar [a constant rival who Massoud nonetheless helped escape] was in the guest house, I said, ‘This man … has tried to assassinate you many times, why don’t you take care of him tonight?’

“Massoud smiled – I remember that special smile on his face – and he replied, ‘I have no doubt that this guy has been my enemy and he has no good intentions for me or Afghanistan, but that is not our Afghan culture; it would be inhumane.’”

—Sayed Ahmad Hamed Noori

Massoud touched so many people and lives on in so many voices, Grad decided to let them tell the story.

“It’s important to listen and engage if we want to understand people,” Grad says. “So I spent four years listening: Traveling to meet with men and women who knew Massoud – from his family, military peers, reporters, people who had brief encounters with him. It was a wonderful experience that I think gave me the essence of the man. So I tried to capture that in the book. I’ve always been acquainted with the style of stories from the East and how they have many levels, so I chose that method because I thought it would take me to the essence of Massoud.”

“We asked Massoud, ‘Why did you give away those shoes when you need new ones yourself?’ He said, ‘Another visitor will bring me shoes because I am the Commander. They always bring me something. I can find shoes, but this man can’t.’”

—Sher Dil Qaderi

Grad found that her approach resonated with those who knew Massoud.

“It took a while for me to gain their trust, because most writers who approach them want to focus on just the political side of Massoud,” Grad says. “But there is so much more to him, and when Afghan people saw that this is what I was looking for, they were very eager to help and they helped in countless ways.”

Then, to Grad’s happy surprise, the book has brought many closer to Massoud. "People who have read it tell me they feel like they have known Massoud personally.”

“I think [the Taliban’s fanaticism and intolerance] did more to Massoud than the war against the Soviets, because what he believed in most deeply was being disfigured. … That was his most important fight. … He was safeguarding his own culture, the expression of his people’s faith, which had been passed down through the centuries.”

—Humayun Tandar

Asked whether the complex Massoud reminds her of anyone from history, the Argentina-born Grad says: “In many ways he reminds me of those who have fought for human dignity and human rights in South America. But in other ways he is completely unique. I don’t know of another leader who has survived and persevered through such extreme circumstances for 20 years of constant war and poverty. How did he carry on, without losing his calm and integrity?”

Gratitude to Webster

How the book ever became a reality is a “miracle” achieved thanks to Webster, Grad says: “I received an alumni email about the Webster U. Press out of the blue. Next thing I know I was talking to [dean of the library] Laura Rein and David Carl Wilson [dean of the College of Arts & Sciences] about what’s next.”

Grad was grateful for the support and thrilled to be associated with Webster again.

“Webster is so humanistically oriented,” Grad says. “What matters most is to help humanity, and I really believe Webster is the future of universities. Webster has something that even big universities lack: This way of bringing a sense of wonder out in its students, almost like you can breathe and affect the world. The way Webster valued oral history – valued the experience of a Webster woman listening to the Afghans. Other universities I've talked to never saw the importance in that.”

One of Grad’s next projects will be a project for Masood Khalili, the son of the most important contemporary Afghan poet, who asked her to translate his father’s poetry into Spanish.

But while she must move on to new projects, the experience of writing Massoud is one she says she will never forget.

“I won’t stop until the story of Massoud reaches the heart of mankind everywhere.”