Broadsheet: An Extraordinary Man

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. - Cyril Connolly

Saturday, April 08, 2006

An Extraordinary Man

So, what to do on a cold, rainy Saturday? Well, after laying around all morning, calling a good friend in London to check in, and tidying up the house a little, I got an email from this character, informing me that none other than Paul Rusesabagina, the man whose character Don Cheadle portrayed in Hotel Rwanda was speaking at Enoch Pratt Library this afternoon at 3:00 as part of the City Lit Festival to promote his new book, An Ordinary Man.

Jwer: Wanna Go?

Broadsheet: Um, yes please sir!! (I think the real answer was - HELL, Yeah!!)

So we met at City Cafe for brunch / lunch beforehand and wandered on down to the library from there. At the library, we ran into friend and writer/publisher extraodinaire, the beautiful Jen of Litesthesia, who was promoting her Quarterly Journal as part of the festival.

Needless to say, it was standing room only in the auditorium. In fact, a lot of people couldn't get in because there just wasn't any more room. Mr. Rusesabagina was given a huge standing ovation just for coming on stage, where Library director Dr. Carla Hayden proceeded to introduce him. It was then that we learned that this was his first stop on the publicity tour for the book.

His speech was amazing. Such a slight, graceful man, who underwent such unspeakable horrors and saw so much death, violence and destruction in a country to which he can no longer return. He described the deaths of his brother and sister in law, whose bodies were never found, and the fact that Tatiana's father, his father in law, died in the genocide. He actually paid the soldiers to be executed so he would not die a more painful death by being hacked apart by a machete. Her mother, sister and 6 children were all massacred and their bodies were thrown into a banana pit and burned.

At the end of the movie, you are lead to believe that he and his family fled to Tanzania. This is not true. They remained in Rwanda for two more years after the genocide, but then were forced to flee. This time, they fled to Belgium, where, because he could not find other work, he bought a cab, and became a cab driver. He eventually bought a fleet of cabs, and now owns a successful trucking company.

We stood in line for the book signing afterwards. He is just a remarkably humble man, and anything but ordinary.

posted by Broadsheet @ 5:23 PM

1 Editorial Opinions:

At April 09, 2006, jwer said…

Also, he has a really cool signature... thanks for not mentioning that the combination of warm, still air and full stomach made me, um, dozy...

I just thought it was so cool that when I told him he should add "extra" to the title, his response was, "well, then that wouldn't be me."

If only our supposed leaders were as humble and dignified, eh?