By John Schwing

WESTPORT — Security was intense when writer Salman Rushdie, who was attacked at a public appearance Friday in Chautauqua, N.Y., spoke in Westport nearly seven years ago.

Rushdie, the author of 11 books, including the controversial novel “The Satanic Verses,” which is considered blasphemous by many Muslims, was the featured guest at the Westport Library’s annual Malloy Lecture in the Arts in October 2015.

The lecture was moved that year to the Staples High School auditorium to accommodate the large crowd that registered to hear Rushdie, reported to be about 1,000 people in local press accounts.

After the 1988 publication of “The Satanic Verses,” a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death was issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who considered the book an insult to the Prophet Muhammad.

Rushdie’s appearance in Westport also was not without some controversy.

When the lecture was moved to Staples, a number of parents complained to the Board of Education and then-Supt. of Schools Elliot Landon that the event could pose a risk to students’ safety.

Landon stood by that decision, however, saying the school district was “delighted” to host the author, while acknowledging that security would have to be stepped up.

Police officers were stationed in the auditorium, around school’s perimeter and on the roof for the program, according to reports by the former news website, WestportNow.

Staples students were told that any backpacks left in the building after 4 p.m. that day would be confiscated.

The premises also was searched by bomb-sniffing dogs before and after the program. 

Westport police were joined by officers from several nearby communities, as well as the FBI, to ensure security was maintained.

Rushdie, who met with a group of Staples advanced placement English literature students before his lecture, acknowledged the contention when he took the podium. “I’m sorry you had a bit of fuss about my showing up. All I can say is that you don’t look scary to me, and I hope I don’t look scary to you,” he said, according to the WestportNow account.

The theme of Rushdie’s lecture was his latest book at the time, “Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights,” but when he took questions from the audience several people asked about “The Satanic Verses” and the death edict.

Answering a question about the fatwa, Rushdie responded, “Nobody thought it was going to happen,” WestportNow reported. 

At another point, Rushdie observed, a writer should be able to his pursue his art “without being sentenced to death by a fanatical leader with terrorists at his disposal.”

And, in rejecting censorship for fear of causing offense, he said, “I believe you should be allowed to publish and live … If offending people is wrong, then nothing can be said because everything offends someone.”

Rushdie’s appearance at Staples unfolded without incident, and afterward, the writer signed books for members of the audience.

John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.