ABOUT THE AUTHOR (picture) Nina Jidejian is the author of Byblos Through The Ages- a beautifully illustrated and erudite guide to Byblos from its earliest times. Her book, a first attempt and a worthy one, has just recently appeared on the bookstalls of Beirut and has been greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm. Preview recently paid a visit to Mrs. Jidejian in her home nestled among the pines of Yarze. Toby, the family dog who shows some distinct Chow ancestry met us at the door vociferously, but soon left to pursue his own interests in the vicinity of the family swimming pool. In the mean- time with a glass of lemonade in hand, we sat down to a pleasant hour or two in the living room with our talented hostess. A ready smile and a quiet persuasiveness is part of Nina Jidejian's personal charm and her home is conducive to the spirit of scholarship which attends each member of the family. Byblos Through The Ages was, naturally, the preliminary subject of discussion. Miss Jidejian's interest in the oldest inhabited town in the world began druing the course during of her studies pursued when her daughter a music student, was practically a grown young lady. "My return to studies was a form of defense, I suppose, " she admitted. "In the evenings my husband and daughter curled up with their books and studies and I thought to myself, 'what am I doing here' ?" Before her marriage, Nina Jidejian studied two years at Sage Junior College in Teheran, a branch of Beirut College for Women which later was nationalized by the Iran Government. Following two more years spent in the United States, she travelled to Beirut as a member of the U.S. Consulate. It wasn't until after Nina married Dr. Yervant Jidejian, a noted Beirut abdominal surgeon and clinical Professor of Surgery at A. U.B. Hospital, that she returned to her studies and took both the BA and MA degrees at the American University of Beirut. Her thesis for the MA was Byblos-1100 B. C. -A. D. 200 "In the course of my research I began to feel strongly that the Byblos story was a subject I could incorporate into a form of guide which would appeal to and perhaps benefit the interested reader - the educated layman, so to speak. " She submitted a first draft to Maurice Dunand who, since 1925, has been in charge of the Byblos site and who is also an authority on the sites of Sidon and Tyre. "His reaction was en- couraging and in the greatest spirit of cooperation. My greatest desire was to share my interest with others. Where Phoenician history is concerned human nature has not really changed. Look at the Cedar hagglers in the ancient times." "The Phoenicians were very clever people - ahead of their time really in the knowledge of their particular position in the known world. I recall an inscription on a tablet - an appeal from a Phoenician to his Pharaoh in Egypt. He describes his following fields as 'a wife without a husband. Now how much more expressive can one get? The tablets are all written in such imaginative, human terms. I felt others would be equally interested, and moved by them. Her book took two years to complete. We asked Nina whether she had it in mind to write other books. She mentioned enthusiastically the current finds at Sidon and Tyre under Maurice Shehab, Director General of Archeo- logy in Lebanon, as well as other principles in Lebanon's archeological world. "So muchpromises to be of great interest to the scholars and the rest of the world. In Sidon they have excavated to the Persian level - to the Temple of Eshmun. " She hopes, in time, to publish something in the same vein about these cities. "But a little time may elapse there, I think. They are recording new material every day." In the meantime, Nina Jidejian's activities concern another, more modern project at Byblos; that of the Birds Birsd's Nest - anorphanage setupby Near East Relief and a group of Danish mis- sionaries after World War I to carefor Armenian children.. Since its beginning the orphanage has grown to include Lebanese orphans and children of broken homes. Through the money raised by charity benefits funds have been maintained to support 175 children in Byblos and scholarships have been for children from the slum districts of Beirut. Besides the Bird's Nest, Mrs. Jidejian is the Founder and President of The Friends of Needy Children Society and has been a member of the permanent committee of the Baalbeck Festival since its beginning in 1957 under the directorship of Camille Chamoun. Specifically, she is a member of the executive committee in charge of English speaking theater which since the Festival's inauguration has brought both the London and Bristol Old Vic Theaters to Lebanon and this year arranged the appearance of Scotland's Traverse Theater. We left Mrs. Jidejian's home in very expectant spirits nor do we think they are exaggerated.