In Western New York

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O.J. spent some time here.

Timothy McVeigh was from here.

A president was assassinated here in Buffalo.

Then last week, Salman Rushdie gets stabbed, nearly murdered, on a stage in Western New York.

Shocking to say the least because Rushdie had a bounty put on his head back in 1989 for writing a book that didn’t please the ayatollah of Iran.

The guy who attacked Rushdie wasn’t even born then!

And it’s such a crazy story!

Wasn’t there any security at the event?

How did the guy get to the stage long enough to inflict such damage?

The good news is that Rushdie will pull through, but those are life-altering injuries to be sure.

For writing!

We’ve discussed this before!

Banning books, burning books, attacking writers…

…obviously I’m not a fan of that!

And of course, there’s just no way of knowing how or why written words seem to damage some people. 

I’ve been criticized a few times for things that I’ve written because the reader interpreted it in a completely different way. 

I sat in a reader’s group as they discussed one of my books - which was great fun - and I had a woman TELL me what I meant by having a character say something.

“I didn’t even think about it that way,” I politely told her.

“Well,” she said, “That’s what you meant.”

“No,” I tried. “The thought never occurred to me.”

The woman gave me a dismissive wave.

“Good thing I’m here then,” she said. “So I could clear it up for you.”

We all laughed, but I’ve never forgotten that exchange because it taught me a valuable lesson about writing.

The message sent doesn’t end where the writer says it ends.

I’m sure that Rushdie when he’s writing doesn’t ever consider:

“I wonder if this is enough to get me stabbed.”

The reader brings their own life experiences to the table when they pick up a story.

Which is a scary proposition!

I certainly could’ve explained to that woman that she was dead wrong…

…and she was, as far as I was concerned, but she deserved to bring her thoughts to the conversation.

Just as much as I deserved to have mine read.

Yet, Rushdie being stabbed was a piercing blow to anyone who has ever put something out there for public consumption.

Obviously, that should never happen.

And books shouldn’t be burned or banned either.

Especially not in Western New York!

Thankfully Rushdie seems to be on the mend and will continue to express his thoughts.

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