My friend and I sat sipping coffee in Yorkville, chatting about life and my upcoming birthday. I was a little distracted by the pile of work I knew I had waiting for me at home, including the barely-touched review copy of Salim Mansur’s forthcoming book, Islam’s Predicament.
While my friend and I chatted, somewhere halfway across town, Salim – in on a day trip from London, ON – was sitting stuck in traffic. He was thinking that if he wasn’t running so late for his meeting, he would call me.
Wouldn’t you know it that just as my friend and I were about to leave the café, Salim walked right past us?
“I was going to call you!” we cried in unison.
Confirming my cell number before rushing off, he promised to call me in 90 minutes. True to his word, within a hundred minutes we were strolling happily through Queen’s Park, playing Count the Hippies at the Toronto Word on the Street book fair.
We spent the afternoon talking of everything from politics to Jazz and all subjects between.
Salim’s book, Islam’s Predicament: Perspectives of a Dissident Muslim (Mosaic Press), will be released within the next month, and Salim will be joining Mike and I on Brass Balls Radio in two weeks time.
Sheesh, while you were having fun, I was hearing all about that glorious respecter of women’s rights known as Islam.