Brother of late chef and tv personality Fatima Ali opened up about the memoir she wrote about her life before dying in 2019 of Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.
Mohammad Ali, who is the CEO of the Chef Fatima Foundation, spoke to “Good Morning America” about his thoughts on his sister’s posthumous memoir, “Savor: A Chef’s Hunger for More.”
Chef Fatima Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Pakistan that sets out to “empower people and facilitate intergenerational change by providing sustainable employment opportunities to those who are passionate about the hospitality industry.”
“This book, and the experience of having this book written has, at times, been an elixir for the soul,” he said.
He added that it was “nourishing” for their family while coping with Fatima Ali’s death and gave them all “a path which we could use to channel our indigestible loss.”
Mohammad Ali also shared that “at other times [it was] like a heavy weight hanging over us, reliving playback reels of various parts of Fatima’s life, the most excruciating being her illness and end days.”
Mohammad Ali revealed the promise he made to his sister despite her cancer battle.
“It was a promise we made, however, and a dream we dreamed with Fatima — that no matter what her cancer had to say, and no matter what the doctors had to say, it was Fatima that would have the last word,” he said.
He added that she “wanted to do so much good in the world and enrich every life she came across. And she did.”
“With this book, she and her story will outlive us all. That makes us proud. Fulfilling our promise to her makes us proud. Her story needs to be shared far and wide and this book is part of that plan,” he continued.
When describing the book, Mohammad Ali said that it is “a living story and telling it has taken a tremendous amount of courage and faith.”