Generator 21
The World's Magazine

Rod was terribly instrumental in setting the mode of identification for many people who had chosen words as their basic tool of operations. For instance, Binyavanga Wainaina became acknowledged as a master story teller only after Rod Amis made him over by accepting his fiction on the world’s magazine.

This is one true reason all fans of Wainaina’s writings must key into the Rod Amis remembrance beat. But the story doesn’t end with the Kenyan writer. Truly, the beat goes on and on, floating across the entirety of the African continent, before branching out to other writing firmaments.

Rod Amis also helped this writer in finding credible space on the chaotic cyberspace. He accepted my works with intellectual honesty and editorial candour. He was active, attentive to details and facts and also ruthless in his operational codes. Rod was a man I loved for his brilliance and honesty in editorial matters. I still admire and value his brain and the speed with which he offered editorial judgements.

We can also remember Rod because he was a man who had a heart full of fun and a mouth quick to laughter. He had humour in his writings, and you didn’t have to read too intensely before comprehending his jokes.

Rod was also a sort of a fringe personality. I don’t know if this is entirely true, but I have this wild assumption because the man saw his writing platform as a viable “antidote to the mouthpiece media.” He was a man cut out for battle in the media. However there are some battles that Rod failed at.

This prolific writer and astute thinker was not strong enough to win against the forces of alcoholism. He let the fluid joy of alcohol become his concrete reality. This was tragic because the man became hooked and the chemicals took his mind away, slowly at first, then furiously in the dwindling stages of his rich experiences on earth.

It is extremely sad to remember that this university graduate could not remember his computer password as he struggled with the ruthless forces of illness. But I remember him still, as a man of editorial finesse and mentoring capabilities.

Catholicism is an integral part of my spiritual constitution. The teachings of the mother church constantly tell me to remember and pray for the dead. I will pray for the gentle soul of Rod Amis, and the equally gentle souls of all the faithful departed my next time, at the holy Mass. And I am determined to perform this sacred obligation for this simple reason: I believe in the efficacy of prayers to God. Rod Amis, writer, friend and mentor, rest in profound peace till we meet for that heavenly gathering of writers and all true lovers of words.

Truly, I remember Rod Amis, in this month of his demise. Sleep well, dear writer.