Iran's national poet is said to have preferred Shiraz over paradise. These photos might give us an idea why.
Iran's vocal maestro Mohammad Reza Shajarian embodied the timeless beauty of Persian music. On the occasion of his death I recalled our two meetings.
When I learned the Persian language it was as if a window to a new world had opened. In Iran, I encountered poetry as a way of living, a soulful means to make sense of life.