Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary general from 1997 to 2006 and co-recipient, with the UN, of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, is being mourned and remembered with great affection all over the world.

The author meeting with, from left, Julie and Harry Belafonte, Kofi Annan, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu on February 15, 2003, the day of massive global protest against the impending US invasion of ...