Author Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed at at a literary event in New York state at the weekend, came to New Zealand about 25 years ago to promote one of his books.
The writer is being treated in a Pennsylvania hospital for severe stab wounds.
A suspect has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault.
Rushdie has lived with a bounty on his head since his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses prompted Iran to urge Muslims to kill him.
Michael Moynihan was chief executive of Random House in New Zealand in the mid 1990s and spent five days with the author when he visited.
He spoke to Corin Dann.
