The last year of Tom Flanagan’s life offers proof that success is the best revenge. In early 2013, his detractors vilified him as an apologist for pedophilia, and hounded him out of prestigious roles as a pundit and public speaker.
But his exile turned out to be temporary: Instead of curling up in a ball and retreating from public life, he took to the media, and explained forthrightly why he’d said what he did. And in time, a backlash grew against those who had rushed to judgment.
Now, Flanagan has written a fascinating (and surprisingly wide-ranging) book about the experience.
In Persona Non Grata he describes not only the effect that the ordeal had on his life, but also the lessons it taught him about mob behaviour, modern politics, social media and Canada’s anti-pornography laws.
