You may be under the mistaken impression that you have to be a far-right, fundamentalist Muslim in order to collect the bounty on the head of a writer. Certainly, the current examples of the Iranian fatwa against Salman Rushdie, or the money offered for the death of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin suggest that dealing with controversial writers is one area in which Developed Nations could learn a thing or two from Developing Nations.
However, the world is full of fundamentalisms. If you just wait, your favourite writer could some day have a death threat hanging over his or her head. Below are suggested just a few of the many possibilities (with current rates as a basis for comparison). While it’s true that an “I am Paul Quarrington” campaign isn’t likely to spark the world’s conscience, it’s important to remember that no writer is so insignificant that some group wouldn’t be glad to pay for his or her death.
| Name | Bounty | Organization/Person | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salman Rushdie | $1 million | Ayatollah Khomeni | apostasy, defaming Mohamed’s wives in The Satanic Verses |
| Taslima Nasrin | $5,000 | Bangladesh fundamentalists | defaming Islam |
| Douglas Coupland | Green Day tickets | Young Republicans | creating the “Generation X” label |
| Norman Mailer | year of daycare | NOW | macho swaggering (at his age!) |
| Paul Quarrington | barrel of Rickard’s Red | Greenpeace | writing Whale Music |
| Mordecai Richler | winter in Florida | Parti Quebecois | not taking Separatism seriously |
| Paul McCartney | An Anthology of Verse | American League of Poets | they’ve had enough of silly love songs |
| Tom Clancy | 6 Stinger missiles | Amnesty International | not getting the end of the Cold War |
| Robert Munsch | Disney gift certificates | Western Guard | teaching children cooperation |