Interesting denouement to the so-called Rushdie Affair. Salman Rushdie, well known Indian/British author, most famous for the Satanic Verses and Midnight’s Children, earned an apology today from writers of a tell-all spy book. The writers had included or manufactured anecdotes about Rushdie’s period of protection while he was under fatwah from clerics in Iran. One of the contested facts included, “That Rushdie sought to profit from the fatwa inviting Muslims to kill him for insulting the prophet Muhammad.” That’s hard to imagine when Rushide was principally hoping just to stay alive.

It’s 20 years ago this year that the Satanic Verses were condemned in Iran, and sparked the “culture war” that we are still trying to understand.

I remember my Dad was on a business trip to Ottawa when the news broke.  He came home with a copy of the book.  He said he was the only person that morning who had reached over and purchased a copy at a downtown bookstore.  The cashier asked him, “Are you making a statement?” to which he confidently said, “Yes.  Yes I am.”   It’s good to remember these kinds of facts and history, particularly when it comes to censorship or just self-interested defamation.