Salman Rushdie
I know I’m supposed to be taking a Substack holiday, but I can’t stop thinking about Salman Rushdie, who is a friend as well as a hero.
I found this New Yorker article by Adam Gopnik to be excellent. Upsetting, but excellent:
newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/salman-rushdie-and-the-power-of-words
As you may know Salman has a Substack too. I thought I’d share a few of my favourites with you:
Writers and readers gathered on the steps of the New York Public Library on Friday for public readings of Salman’s work: Stand With Salman; Defend the Freedom to Write. Maybe we can do the virtual equivalent and keep reading:
Lail x
Thank you, Lail. The vicious attack on Rushdie is abhorrent. And so is the absence of loud and clear condemnation of it by religious leaders.
One of my favorite writers. I would not have known of his substack except for your mention. I subscribed about a month ago to read Seventh Wave and his other stuff there.
Last week Robert Hunter’s lyrics floated through the park in San Francisco and reminded me of S Rushdie.
The storyteller makes no choice
Soon you will not hear his voice
His job is to shed light
And not to master
Since the end is never told
We pay the teller off in gold
In hopes that he will come back
But he cannot be bought or sold
And we all hope he comes back soon