Joseph Anton: A Memoir Joseph Anton: A Memoir Joseph Anton: A Memoir is an autobiographical book by the British Indian writer, Salman Rushdie. It was published in September 2012 by Random House. Rushdie used "Joseph Anton" as a pseudonym while in hiding following the fatwa that had been issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, the spiritual and political leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in the midst of criticism by some Muslims and a widespread controversy over Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses" (1988). He chose the name to honor the writers Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov. Rushdie was annoyed when police officers called him by
Nicolas Walter on Salman Rushdie and his book "The Satanic Verses", Walter (along with William McIlroy) re-formed The Committee Against Blasphemy Law. It issued a "Statement Against Blasphemy Law", signed by more than 200 public figures. Walter and Barbara Smoker were attacked while counter-demonstrating during a Muslim protest against the book in May 1989. Walter's book "Blasphemy Ancient and Modern" put the Rushdie controversy into historical context. Walter also served as company secretary of G. W. Foote & Co., publishers of "The Freethinker", and was a Vice-President of the National Secular Society. Walter occasionally wrote or spoke about how secular humanists might