The following, courtesy of Mr. Felix Ossia, is a narrative of the book "In
the Shadow of A Saint" authored by our own illustrious son, Ken Wiwa. As
announced earlier, Ken Wiwa will be in Madison today, Tuesday, October 16,
2001, at 6:00 p.m., 711 State Street to discuss his writings.
This event (free to the public) is sponsored by the University Book Store
and co-sponsored by the African Association of Madison. Please join us in
giving an audience to Ken Wiwa:
> In The Shadow of a Saint
>
> ABOUT THIS BOOK
>
> In late 1995, the little-known Ogoni region in Nigeria became a fable for
> our times. Ken Saro-Wiwa, a renowned poet and environmentalist, was
> campaigning to protect his Ogoni people against the encroachments of Shell
> Oil and a brutal dictatorship. He was imprisoned, tortured, brought to
> trial on trumped-up charges, and executed.
> At the heart of the public campaign to save Ken Saro-Wiwa was another Ken
> Wiwa - the author's son - who travelled the world lobbying world leaders
> and mobilizing public opinion, so that his father was recognized as a hero
> and a symbol of the struggle for environmental justice. The Saro-Wiwa name
> became global currency for righteousness.
> Ken Wiwa has embarked on a book that tells the story - from a human,
> anecdotal perspective - of what it means to grow up as a child in the
> shadow of such extraordinary men and women. In the end, it's about Ken's
> attempts to make peace with himself and his father - following his journey
> as he reaches toward a final rendezvous with the father who was snatched
> by the hangman.
>
>
> "Your book is rivetting,searingly honest and deeply moving.It is a
> splendid monument to an outstanding man, warts and all." -Desmond Tutu
>
> "Ken Wiwa leaves no holds unbarred in his account of his father's
> remarkable life and appalling death. It's a searing personal and political
> document." -Harold Pinter
>
> "His book is at once a tough indictment of the Nigerian government and the
> oil industry, and an intense and moving tale of a young man's struggle to
> make peace with his father....Exceptionally - sometimes bracingly -
> frank." -Toronto Life
>
> "In The Shadow of a Saint is a stirring work that will resonate with you
> long after you close the book and a reminder on the anniversary of
> Saro-Wiwa's death that the word really can be more powerful than the
> sword." -Eye
>
> "The straightforward honesty of Ken Wiwa's account is the book's shining
> merit. Not only is Ken Wiwa searching for the man his father was, he is
> also striving to unearth the truth of his own fraught relationship with
> him....And it is entirely fitting that it is by an act of writing that Ken
> Wiwa finally slips out of the long shadow that Ken Saro-Wiwa cast, to
> become his own man and , moreover, someone of whom I am sure his father
> would have been intensely proud." -The Globe and Mail
>
> AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
> Ken Wiwa was formerly a journalist with The Guardian. He has moved to
> Canada and currently lives with his wife and young son in Toronto.
Ray A. Kumapayi, P.E.
Geotechnical Engineer
Bureau of Highway Construction, DTID, WisDOT
tel: 608.246.7941
fax: 608.246.4669
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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