John le Carre: Gary Oldman, Stephen King and more share tributes for 'literary giant'


Evelyn Lau
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Fellow writers, actors and fans from around the world have paid tribute to acclaimed British spy author John le Carre, after he died from pneumonia aged 89.

Known for his novels Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and The Night Manager, le Carre was praised for bringing a degree of accuracy to his novels thanks to his former experience as a spy with British intelligence agency MI6. Many of his books were subsequently adapted for film and TV, winning him a new generation of admirers.

After the news of his death was revealed, many have taken social media to share their thoughts and express what le Carre's work meant to them. Here's a round up of some of the best tributes to the acclaimed author.

Gary Oldman

The actor, who starred in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but isn't on social media, released a statement, saying: "For me, John le Carre was many things. He was, of course, a very great author, the true 'owner' of the serious, adult, complicated, spy novel – he actually owned the genre … He was generous with his creativity and always a true gentleman."

Stephen King

American author Stephen King paid tribute by revealing that The Little Drummer Girl was "one of the best novels I've ever read", while calling le Carre a "literary giant and a humanitarian spirit":

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood said the novels involving his most enduring character, George Smiley, were “key to understanding the mid-20th century”:

Paulo Coelho

Brazilian author Paulo Coelho said: “John Le Carre, you were not only a great writer, but a visionary. Enjoy your new home”:

Stephen Fry

British writer and TV personality Stephen Fry wrote: “If there is a contemporary writer who’s given me richer pleasure, I can’t for the moment name them.”

Michael McKean

This is Spinal Tap actor Michael McKean said le Carre's life was "unparalleled":

Seth Meyers

Seth Meyers, host of NBC's Late Night With Seth Meyers, said that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was "the gold standard for espionage fiction":

Gary Shteyngart

Writer Gary Shteyngart called le Carre "one of the greatest and most influential writers of the 20th century, full stop":

Fans of le Carre's work also took to social media to write about how he touched their lives:

Many praised the legacy he leaves behind:

While others simply shared a look at their collection of his novels:

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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

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