In Iran, in 1997, there was a huge government shut down aimed, primarily, at women. Nafisi taught literature at the University of Tehran but, after running afoul of the mullahs, she was sent home where she secretly formed a book club for young women who had been her students.
They read banned writers like Jane Austen and banned books like The Great Gatsby, Ulysses, Mrs. Dalloway, and The Thousand and One Nights.
Nafisi writes, "They took off more than their scarves and robes...Our world in that living room became our sanctuary, our self-contained universe."
We, here in the state of Florida, should take note of all of the above.
Fast forward to this past Saturday. I finally got to meet Rahman Shahidi. He's from Iran and loves his country. He told me how, growing up, his father was very respectful of women and about how his mother is a very strong woman. He was excited to tell me how a brave new generation is working for change in Iran.
But, for me, the most amazing thing he said was that, while he was visiting his family in Iran a few months ago, he read my book Florida, a Love Story, and, after reading my bio, compared me to his "strong woman" mom. Wow!
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If you want to know more about Rahman's story, listen to The Crossman Conversation podcast titled: The Iran Special with Shirin Taber and Rahman Shahidi.
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