Blind Chinese Rights Activist Is Writing a Memoir

July 17, 2012, The New York Times

By JULIE BOSMAN

Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese lawyer and rights activist whose conflict with the Chinese government last spring riveted the world and started a diplomatic crisis for the United States, has landed a book deal to write about his life, his publisher said on Tuesday.
Mr. Chen will write a memoir that he said would describe “the true conditions in China, especially in the vast stretches of rural China.” The book is tentatively scheduled for release in fall 2013 by Times Books, an imprint of Henry Holt & Company. John Sterling, editor at large for Henry Holt, acquired the book.
“Chen’s story is a remarkable journey of activism on both a personal and political level,” Mr. Sterling said in a statement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Since leaving China, Mr. Chen has settled into a busy life in New York, studying at the U.S.-Asia Law Institute at the New York University School of Law. He is also taking intensive classes in English.
Mr. Chen was represented by Robert B. Barnett, the Washington lawyer who has brokered book deals for Barack Obama, Bill Clinton,George W. Bush and Sarah Palin.