 On 25 September 2003 , after enduring a twelve @-@ year sickness with chronic lymphocytic leukemia , Edward W. Said died , at 67 years of age , in New York City . He was survived by his wife , Mariam C. Said , his son , Wadie Said , and his daughter , Najla Said . The eulogists included Alexander Cockburn ( " A Mighty and Passionate Heart " ) ; Seamus Deane ( " A Late Style of Humanism " ) ; Christopher Hitchens ( " A Valediction for Edward Said " ) ; Tony Judt ( " The Rootless Cosmopolitan " ) ; Michael Wood ( " On Edward Said " ) ; and Tariq Ali ( " Remembering Edward Said , 1935 – 2003 " ) . In November 2004 , in Palestine , Birzeit University renamed their music school the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music . 
