Chautauqua, where Salman Rushdie was attacked, has a long history of promoting free speech and learning for the public good

Chautauqua's lectures and performances drew hundreds of people with their promise of self-transformation. L.E. Walker/New York Public Library

On Aug. 20, 2022, a large crowd gathered in front of the New York Public Library to hear prominent authors such as Kiran Desai, Gay Talese and Colum McCann read from novelist Salman Rushdie’s works. The event was organized as a demonstration of support for Rushdie after he was brutally attacked during a lecture on Aug. 12.

The Indian-born writer has been the subject of death threats ever since the publication of his 1998 book “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslim leaders condemned as blasphemous.