To the Editor:
Re “Why We’re Honoring Charlie Hebdo” (Op-Ed, May 2):
Kudos to PEN American Center’s president, Andrew Solomon, and its executive director, Suzanne Nossel, for their eloquent response to members of the organization who vigorously object to the decision to honor the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which was attacked in Paris in January, at Tuesday’s yearly gala.
While recognizing the importance of accepting dissent in the ranks of independent spirits, they persuasively emphasize that an award created to honor courage has clearly been earned.
I was once asked what it was like to serve as president of PEN. I responded that it was like herding cats.
JOEL CONARROE
New York
To the Editor:
In the to-and-fro of this unseemly business, no one has solicited my opinion or asked for my signature, but may I say that, because I don’t believe in censorship of any kind, I support the award to Charlie Hebdo with this proviso: that the next time PEN decides to give a prize, it finds someone with a talent for illustration and a gift for satire, not the practitioners of pictorial bobbleheads and pointless puerility.
PAUL THEROUX
Haleiwa, Hawaii