'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Salman Rushdie, the 75-year-old British-American novelist, was attacked on August 12 during the Chautauqua Summer Arts Festival in western New York.
Trigger warning: This article contains information about graphic violence.
The Indian-born author was scheduled to deliver a talk at the Chautauqua Institution event. He had sat down onstage with the discussion's moderator, Henry Reese, to discuss the United States giving asylum to artists in exile, when the attacker rushed the stage and stabbed him several times in the neck and abdomen.
The stunned attendees of the event struggled to wrest the attacker from Rushdie, who had fallen to the floor as the man was determined to continue the attack. A New York State Police trooper who was providing security at the event managed to detain the attacker.
Major Eugene J. Staniszewski of the New York State Police identified the suspect as Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old man from Fairview, New Jersey, who had bought a pass to the event.
Rushdie was airlifted by helicopter to a nearby hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he was taken in for surgery, which lasted several hours. Following the surgery, he was put on a ventilator. His agent, Andrew Wylie, reported at the time:
“Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.”
Rushdie is currently off the ventilator and able to talk.
People all over the world have been praying for his speedy recovery. In the meantime, let's take a look at these lesser-known facts about the prolific writer.
5 facts about Salman Rushdie that you might not know
1) He once worked in advertising firms
Salman Rushdie started his career as an advertising copywriter before becoming a full-time writer in 1981. He started his stint in the advertising business by joining Sharp McManus and wrote his Booker Prize-winning novel, Midnight's Children, on the job.
While working at the ad agency, Ogilvy & Mather, he coined the slogan for Fresh Cream Cakes: "Naughty, but Nice." While working for the agency Ayer Barker, he penned the term "That’ll do nicely" for American Express and "Irresistibubble" for chocolate-bar manufacturer Aero. He also worked with the Daily Mirror to come up with the slogan: "Look into the Mirror tomorrow – you’ll like what you see."
2) He wrote two children's books for his children
Salman Rushdie wrote his 1990 magic realist children's novel, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, for his eldest son Zafar's eleventh birthday. The story features a boy named Haroun, which is Zafar’s middle name.
Two decades later, when his younger son, Milan, demanded a book, he wrote his 2010 children's novel Luka and the Fire of Life, a sequel to Haroun and the Sea of Stories, for Milan’s thirteenth birthday. The novel features a boy named Luka, which is Milan’s middle name.
3) He wrote the lyrics for a U2 song
The Irish band U2's song “The Ground Beneath Her Feet” is based on Salman Rushdie's 1999 book of the same name, which is a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and a celebration of music.
The lyrics of the song were penned by Rushdie himself. The song appeared in the 2000 film The Million Dollar Hotel, which also featured a cameo by Rushdie.
4) He escaped an assassination attempt
On August 3, 1989, a bomb went off at a London hotel where Salman Rushdie was thought to be staying and demolished two floors of the building. The Lebanese group, the Organization of the Mujahidin of Islam, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attacker was Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh, who died during the bombing. He has a shrine in Tehran's Behesht Zahra cemetery, which says: “The first martyr to die on a mission to kill Salman Rushdie.”
5) He published a memoir about his time in hiding
Salman Rushdie's fourth novel, Satanic Verses, was considered by some Muslims to be blasphemous. His 2012 memoir, titled Joseph Anton, details his decade-long hiding within a fortified safe house under the protection of the British government, following a fatwa issued by the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini due to this controversial book. The fatwa called for his death and offered rewards for the killing of anyone involved in the publication of the book.
The title of the novel comes from the pseudonym Rushdie used while in hiding. The name is a combination of his two favorite writers: Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekov.
