It’s me again, the "
Publisher". I can’t tell you what an INSANE day this has been. Well - insane ever since Tuesday, at around 3:00pm, when I got the call.
"Darling, they won’t let him in"
our mutual friend Babette said to me. Rachel, traveling with Sebastian, called her from her cell phone. Babette phoned me and that’s how this whole thing happened.
The press coverage has been amazing, awe-inspiring, and frankly inspiring. The press and public are gathering, in some small way, to support honesty and truth. Because Sebastian leads his life as an open-book. While others sin, lie, cover, repent - Sebastian tells the truth. And for that truth, we say leave. Interesting.
My favorite - absolute favorite piece, thus far, is this wonderful opinion piece that ran in
The Independent today. This piece made me believe that maybe - just maybe - something important was happening here. It wasn’t just a situation between an author and his publisher: a friend to a friend. But the world was suddenly noticing, and people started to say, hey, that’s not cool. It’s just Sebastian. A writer with a story to tell. And we’re not letting him come and tell it to us? Another separate blog about that follows, with the complete text of the piece.
But - then - the HIGHLIGHT.
PEN gets involved.
PEN: An association
of writers working to advance literature, defend free expression, and foster international literary fellowship. Complete release
here, my favorite bit below...
PEN American Center’s president Francine Prose noted that this year’s theme of "Public Lives/Private Lives" was particularly apt, given that "our (U.S.) borders are becoming increasingly closed." Prose cited U.S. immigration officials’ refusal this week to admit British writer Sebastian Horsley into the country on grounds of "moral turpitude."
Horsley’s autobiography, "Dandy in the Underworld," is a detailed chronicle of the writer’s extensive experiences with drugs and prostitution. "God bless America, land of the free, but sadly not the home of the depraved," the writer said after being sent back to London.