Edward W.[1] Said (last name pronounced sah-eed) was a Palestinian-American scholar most often noted as a critic of the Western academic school of Orientalism. Said authored the highly influential book entitled Orientalism[2] in 1979. The publication of this book is considered by many academics to have established the field of Postcolonial Theory[3]. Said was born in Jerusalem and was Christian. Said was educated in British schools in Egypt where his family lived prior to World War II. He later attended American prep schools and attended both Princeton and Harvard. He spent his entire academic career at Columbia University in New York City and was called by the New York Times "the most prominent advocate in the United States of the cause of Palestinian independence."[4] He died on Wednesday, September 24, 2003 at the age of 67.