Collegiality extends across time and borders, as ALA Library Director Karen Muller was recently reminded when she saw a colleague’s photo in the media and realized that her former coworker was toughing out an unenviable ordeal.
The person Muller recognized in the photo accompanying an April 5 USA Today; story was Jane Gillis, rare book cataloger at Yale University as well as the mother of Clare Morgana Gillis, a freelance journalist who was covering the civil war there for The Atlantic and USA Today. Clare was one of four journalists Libyan officials had just detained, claiming that they had illegally entered the country. A Facebook page was soon organized to press for Clare’s release.
Fortunately, Libyan authorities released Clare, James Foley, Manuel Brabo, and Nigel Chandler six weeks later to Hungarian diplomats, after which they were all driven to the Tunisian border, according to a May 18 Associated Press report. “She sounds great,” Clare’s mother told The Atlantic. “She is so relieved and happy to be going home.”
However, a fifth reporter, Anton Hammerl, who was captured April 5 with the others, was shot and killed by Libyan forces, the freed journalists revealed after arriving in Tunisia, where they could speak freely.
An ALA member, Jane Gillis worked with Muller at the Yale Center for British Art, where Gillis trained Muller in cataloging both rare and regular materials. The mentoring ended many years ago, but the sense of connection endures.
So Jane, Karen says “Hi,” and wishes your family a peaceful summer.
