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Hello, friends. Thanks for meeting here with me again.

Today’s column is about someone with whom you may be familiar. Well, familiar with his books. You see, he was a best-selling author. Now that is an understatement, for sure.

What did he write? Something that came to be called the Millennium Trilogy.

His name? Karl Stig-Erland Larsson. He changed it a bit to Stieg. Stieg Larsson.

The titles of his three famous works? The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; The Girl Who Played with Fire; and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.

These are the English names of his books. He wrote them in Swedish, because he was Swedish. Which seems logical. (Of course.)

Stieg Larsson was called a literary omnivore. Oh, yes. He read many different genres, but with emphasis on crime novels.

Not many authors have three books accepted, discover that a ‘buzz’ has developed around them well before even the first one is published, and takes part in negotiations for film contracts and foreign rights. That just doesn’t happen. But it did.

An irony is he died before any were ever published. He was fifty years old. He was addicted to cigarettes. Terribly so.

Stieg Larsson was more than an author. Much, much more. He was a tireless advocate for any and all who were discriminated against.

He felt, believed, that we should “Respect everybody, regardless of their skin colour, gender, language, religion, ethnic background or sexual orientation⁵‘. Always. In all circumstances. Unconditionally. (“Our Days in Stockholm” by Kurdo Baksi.)

Such a truly lofty ideal was Stieg Larsson’s credo.

As his country seemed to be turning to right-wing extremism, he strove tirelessly to combat this toxicity. Dare I say that such also exists here in this land we love, as well as in many parts of the world? Conservatism lurching to the extreme right. Sad, and alarming.

May the rest of your weekend, and all of next week, be pleasant and peaceful.

For each of us.