Book signing by local author

Book signing by local author

NILES — Author Dennis Martin, a Canfield resident and retired Navy chief, will share doses of inspiration and motivation during a book signing for his book “Celubrious: A Celebration of Life.”

The event is set from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Borders Books, 2102 Niles Cortland Road.

A percentage of royalties from sales are committed to the Tommy Detesco Fund for children and adolescents with brain tumors. For more information about the charity, visit www.tommydetescofund.com. For more about the author or his book, visit www.celubrious.net.

Publisher withdraws book after Muslim protests

BELGRADE, Serbia — A Serbian publisher says it has withdrawn a controversial book by American writer Sherry Jones because of protests from the local Islamic community. The book “Jewel of Medina” is about Aisha, one of the Prophet Muhammad’s wives. It gained worldwide attention after the publisher Random House canceled its publication, fearing an uproar in the Islamic world.

Serbian publisher BeoBook released the book but decided to withdraw it because of protests from local Islamic leaders who said it insulted Muhammad and his family. The publisher expressed its “apology and regret” to the Islamic community in a statement published on the company Web site.

In a related story, author Salman Rushdie strongly criticized the publishers decision, saying the Random House Publishing Group had allowed itself to be intimidated. The release of Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” led to a death decree in 1989 from Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and forced the author for years to live under police protection.

Thurber Prize finalists

NEW YORK — A former writer and producer for “The Simpsons,” a former writer for “Saturday Night Live” and a former president of the Harvard Lampoon are finalists for the Thurber Prize for American Humor, a $5,000 award.

Larry Doyle, a contributor to The New Yorker whose previous credits include “The Simpsons,” was nominated for “I Love You, Beth Cooper,” his debut novel. Patricia Marx, a children’s book author who has written for “Saturday Night Live” and is a contributing editor to Time magazine, was cited for the novel “Him Her Him Again The End of Him.”

The third finalist was Simon Rich for “Ant Farm,” an essay collection. Rich, son of New York Times columnist Frank Rich, is a Harvard University graduate who served as president of the Harvard Lampoon, the school’s famed humor magazine.

The Thurber Prize, named for author-illustrator James Thurber, was founded in 1996.

Combined dispatches