Tony Blair (born Anthony Charles Lynton Blair) was a member of the Labour Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. He is the Labour Party's longest running prime minister, and is most well known in America (from where Norman Boutin hails) for his support of America's War on Terror, as well as the American-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
He is the source of inspiration for Peter Blair, the prime minister in Empress Theresa. Norman Boutin said that he made the homage because he "admired" Tony Blair.[1] Norman believes that Tony Blair wouldn't mind because Peter Blair is "a great guy."[2] Norman has never explained his fascination with Tony Blair, though it probably has something to do with the fact Tony became Roman Catholic in 2007.[3]
Curiously, in the same post in which he explains the Peter-Tony connection, Norman says that he named Israeli prime minister Benjamin Scherzer after Benjamin Netanyahu but changed the last name because he "obviously couldn't use his last name" because it was "too obvious."[4] Why Norman Boutin felt that people might recognize "Netanyahu" but wouldn't recognize "Blair" is simply peculiar. Certainly critics of his book have noticed it, pointing out how painfully obvious the connection is;[5] one critic even joked that Peter Blair was probably "Tony's evil twin."[6]
References[]
- ↑ http://www.hashkafah.com/index.php?/topic/71924-empress-theresa-helps-israel-evacuate/page-9#entry1642017
- ↑ http://www.writingforums.com/threads/137382-Empress-Theresa-it-s-on-Amazon-KINDLE?s=3d4b63e579b5026ab795f16d04dd9034&p=1612938&viewfull=1#post1612938
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Blair#Religious_faith
- ↑ http://www.writingforums.com/threads/137382-Empress-Theresa-it-s-on-Amazon-KINDLE?s=3d4b63e579b5026ab795f16d04dd9034&p=1612938&viewfull=1#post1612938
- ↑ http://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R1U460R88DR2E2/ref=cm_cr_pr_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1495450422
- ↑ http://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R145Z5GQ93NH5L/ref=cm_cr_pr_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1495450422