Salman Rushdie spent years in hiding after the leadership of Iran called for his death following the publication of his novel "The Satanic Verses.” But in recent years, declaring, "Oh, I have to live my life,” he re-entered society, regularly appearing in public around New York City without evident security.
On Friday morning, any sense that threats to his life were a thing of the past were dispelled when an attacker rushed the stage of Chautauqua Institution in western New York, where Rushdie was scheduled to give a talk about the United States as a safe haven for exiled writers. The assailant stabbed Rushdie, 75, in the abdomen and the neck, police and witnesses said, straining to continue the attack even as several people held him back.
Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he was in surgery for several hours Friday afternoon. Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, said Friday evening that Rushdie was on a ventilator and could not speak.