World-famous Canadian murder mystery writer Louise Penny has cancelled a U.S. tour for her latest book, citing President Donald Trump’s repeated threats of a trade war against Canada and annexation.
Penny announced the move on social media, saying it was “a painful decision” because of the many friends and professional acquaintances she’d made in the U.S. after touring there for 20 years.
“Please understand this decision is not meant to punish Americans. This is about standing shoulder-to-shoulder with my fellow Canadians,” Penny stated in a long, thoughtful message to her fans.
Penny is the author of the beloved Chief Inspector Gamache police murder mystery novel series, which is set in her own home province of Quebec.
Her latest book, called The Black Wolf, is the 20th tome in the Inspector Gamache series, which has sold more than 18 million copies worldwide in English and multiple other languages.
The books have topped Canadian, U.S., and international bestseller lists as the stories follows the adventures of the head of the homicide department at la Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police.
Here is what she wrote.
Louise Penny: I can hardly believe I’m saying this, but given the ongoing threat of an unprovoked trade war against Canada by the US president, I do not feel I can enter the United States.
At least not until that economic sword, that could throw hundreds of thousands of Canadians (as well as Americans) into poverty, is removed completely.
There are, of course, other things the American president is doing that make visiting the USA unpalatable. Oh, dear. It is so painful to say that.
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I have visited friends, made friends, personally and professionally, with so many Americans. I have such respect, affection, for them. For you. But…enough. What is happening is not just a potential economic catastrophe for Canada and so many other nations, it is a moral wound.
With that in mind, I am so sorry to say that until things change, I cannot do in-person events in the United States. Which means, for the first time in 20 years, not touring the USA.
The cancellation of the tour means Penny will not appear at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. as planned this fall to launch her new book in front of a 2,000-person audience, a decision first reported by The Washington Post.
Penny said the soiree was going to be a highlight of her career, but she pulled out of that appearance after Trump fired the entire board of trustees and declared himself chairman last month.
Ticket sales at the Kennedy Center have plunged since then.
Penny’s decision to cancel her U.S. tour has earned widespread support on social media from dozens of Americans and Canadians, who praised her integrity and courage.
Instead, and with the support of her publishers, Penny said she would launch the book in Canada, and she invited all her American fans to attend that event.
“I have decided that instead of launching THE BLACK WOLF in Washington, DC at the Kennedy Center, I will be doing the event in my nation’s capital Ottawa, at the National Arts Centre. It will be on Tuesday, October 28,” she wrote.
In the days after the NAC launch in Ottawa, Penny wrote, she will hold other Canadian book launch and promotion events before she ends her tour at the Haskell Free Library and Opera House.
“This remarkable place was built in 1904 and sits right smack dab on the border between Québec and Vermont. The Haskell was built by both countries as a symbol of our strong bonds of friendship,” Penny stated.
“It is the physical reflection of what we believe. That what happens politically is one thing, and transitory. What happens in our hearts is indestructible.”
Penny said she is hoping Americans will come to her Canadian book events.
“You will be welcomed with open arms. As friends. As fellow villagers of Three Pines. Where goodness, and decency, exist,” she wrote.
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