Meeting Salman Rushdie

Have you ever been tongue-tied in the presence of someone truly famous that you admire and respect? Well, I was, when accidentally meeting the author, Salman Rushdie. To remind you, he is an award-winning India-born author of many books, including The Satanic Verses. After a long and stellar writing career, this year he was considered for the Nobel Prize for Literature. He also had a fatwa issued against him for writing certain things in The Satanic Verses. More on that below.

Although I wish Rushdie had won the Nobel Prize, the French author who did is surely well-deserving. Here’s the scoop about her: French author Annie Ernaux wins 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature | Reuters

Where I met Salman Rushdie

Fifteen years ago, late in March, 2007, I attended the same dinner party as Rushdie. He was a guest speaker for a dynamic few days at a Rollins College Colloquy, a summit of profound thinkers from many disciplines sharing their thoughts mainly about education today. From the Rollins Alumni Record magazine we learn:

Guided initially by a committee of Rollins faculty holding endowed chairs, and then by faculty teams who developed questions for the presenters to consider in preparation for their visits, a program of shared conversations evolved.

With the theme “Liberal Education and Social Responsibility in a Global Community,” the Colloquy convened in late March with some of today’s most fascinating and respected thinkers—an eclectic band from education, business, technology, the arts, and the sciences. It was, by any count, an amazing gathering.

It certainly was amazing to me! Besides Rushdie, the other speakers were: Duane Ackerman, a Rollins alum; Maya Angelou, (died 2014), Carol Christ, (died 2021), Jared Diamond, Francis Fukuyama, Jaron Lanier, Steven Pinker, Sally Ride, (died 2012), Anna Deavere Smith, and E. O. Wilson, (died 2021).

Note: While researching for this blog, I was dismayed to learn that so many of those generous thinkers have passed away. That fact magnifies my gratitude to have benefitted from their presence back then. For this blog, I want to thank Wenxian Zhang, Head of Archives at Rollins College, for providing background information on this Colloquy.

I was especially interested in hearing what Rushdie had to say, since I was working on my memoir then and admired his brilliant work, especially in his book, Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992 – 2002.

One thing he said: “If there is a reason to be at college, in my view, it is to learn how to think.” I could not agree more.

How I met Rushdie

At the large Colloquy meetings, lucky me had a ringside seat in the auditorium. At the time, my husband, Hoyt Edge, PhD, served as Associate Dean of the Faculty and helped organize the Colloquy, so besides good seats in the auditorium, we also went to a dinner with the guest speakers held in the Rollins president’s house. That’s where …

I was standing next to a small buffet table filled with plates of pickles, cheese cubes, rolls and bread of various kinds, my half-full plate in my hand. Salman Rushdie approached the table with a full dinner plate in his hand. He had a searching look on his face (perhaps looking for the bread and pickles) and his distinctive slanted eyebrows … well, they were slanting like open wings above his glasses. My mind blazed with a hundred questions for this author I admired. My gut did the jitterbug.

“Would you care for some butter?” I asked, not exactly a deep and meaningful and life-changing question.

“Yes, thank you, I think I would,” said Salman Rushdie, smiling at me. I was silent as he scooped up a pat of butter from the serving dish, then walked away, this man with a fatwa issued on his life, who continued writing books even in hiding, who took extreme precautions when speaking in public, and who took only a pat of butter. I watched as he found his assigned seat across the room—not at the same table as mine, which was most probably very fortunate for the both of us.

That bounty on Rushdie’s life

“On February 14, 1989, the spiritual leader of revolutionary Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, publicly condemned the book (The Satanic Verses) and issued a fatwa (legal opinion) against Rushdie; a bounty was offered to anyone who would execute him. He went into hiding under the protection of Scotland Yard, and—although he occasionally emerged unexpectedly, sometimes in other countries—he was compelled to restrict his movements.”

Source here.

So, I ask myself, what would I have done in that situation? Would I continue to write? Would I be too afraid to ever go anywhere again?

Rushdie today

As you likely know, shockingly, this past August in Chautauqua, New York, Salman Rushdie was severely stabbed by an attacker on stage just as he was to deliver a talk. His wounds are severe: he lost one eye, suffered damage to an arm, and to his liver. It’s just beyond belief to me. Thankfully, he survived, but his life is greatly altered.

I ask myself another question: how would I feel about writing after losing an eye and suffering damage to an arm? Both I consider vital to my writing life, but writing can go on without them …

The Authors Guild on Rushdie

As a member of The Authors Guild, immediately after the attack on Rushdie, The Guild sent this message to its members:

“The Authors Guild is deeply troubled and outraged by the attack on Salman Rushdie on August 12 during an event at the Chautauqua Institution, where he was speaking on the United States as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression. Rushdie was stabbed multiple times by 24-year old Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, who was apprehended at the scene and is now facing charges of assault and attempted murder. His interviewer, Henry Reese, co-founder of City of Asylum, a residency program for writers in exile, also suffered a minor head injury.

We are thankful that Rushdie survived the cowardly attack, the motive for which appears to be revenge for Rushdie criticizing Islamic beliefs. The Authors Guild firmly stands by Rushdie and his right to creative expression just as we did in 1989 when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa and called for Rushdie’s assassination for committing blasphemy and insulting the prophet Muhammad in his 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses. We do not tolerate attacks on free speech of any kind, much less assault and murder.”

I stand with the Authors Guild and their commitment to freedom of expression. Do you?

For a report on the attack, read here.

Support literature this holiday season

What else is there to say but this: honor Salman Rushdie by taking action, by sticking up for freedom of artists to create their work. One way is to support the literary arts by gifting books this holiday.

“Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.” Stella Adler

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Thanks for reading!

Your writer on the wing,

Charlene

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