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The assignment for Meredith May, who used to be a Chronicle reporter and feature writer, was precise. You have five months, she was told by the publisher, ReganBooks, to meet the protagonists, hear them tell their story (through translators), research its veracity, and write the book, which would be in the first person, with alternating chapters told by each man involved. And thats what led to the publication of I, Who Did Not Die, a book she spoke about and signed at Book Passage in Corte Madera on Thursday.

The story, first reported in Canadian newspapers, is stunning: In 1982, during the Iran-Iraq War, Najah Aboud, a 29-year-old Iraqi who had been drafted, was severely wounded. Iranian Zahed Haftlang, a 13-year-old Iranian child soldier whod enlisted to escape a bullying father, was ordered to make sure every Iraqi enemy in a certain area of the battleground was dead. Searching, he found only one, Najah, barely alive.

Although Zahed had been ordered to kill anyone he encountered, he was unable to do it. Instead, he ministered to Najah for three days, hiding him and saving his life. Ultimately, both men were captured, Zahed spending two years in an Iraqi prison, Aboud spending 17 years in an Iranian prison, way past the end of the war.

Eventually, both men wound up in Canada. And 20 years after their first encounter, by chance, they meet again, at a clinic for people suffering the effects of traumatic stress.

May was speaking at the bookstore, which has a busy schedule of events, just after Al Frankens presentation of his Al Franken, Giant of the Senate. That audience was huge and friendly, a choir to be preached to, a crowd easily amused. (More about his presentation tomorrow.) But no one got the chills until May told her books story.

May will be at a Writers With Drinks event at the Make-Out Room in San Francisco at 7 p.m. on Sept. 9.

Mark Kelly, who retired as an astronaut in 2011, the year his wife, Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in the head, is going to be at Shreve & Co. on Tuesday, July 11, on behalf of Breitling watches, which calls him a company Ambassador. Kelly was a space shuttle pilot who became a mission commander. The (sort of) tie in between his distinguished public and scientific life with this commercial gig is that the watch company has a new Navitimer Breitling DC-3 watch thats being shlepped around the world on a Breitling DC-3 plane.

In the comments section of the Mission Local story alleging that many items in the permanent collection of the Mexican Museum are not authentic artifacts, a person identifying himself as George Washington weighed in. This isnt just in Mexico museums but all over the world. Dinosaurs are fake. Its one of the biggest hoaxes. Every single dinosaur skeleton you see at a museum isnt real. They are all cast. Dinosaurs were invented to support the evolution myth. Nice coincidence that dinosaurs werent discovered until right after the evolution theory came to be. And remember, George Washington cannot tell a lie.

Julie Brown Saari attended a Salute to America July 4 concert of the Cleveland Symphony, and overheard a small boy who was there with his mom, who told him there would be fireworks after the concert. Then will they play some real music? he asked her. Saari thought this amusing; perhaps he was disappointed there was no rock n roll. But having looked at the program which included the Strategic Air Command March, Army Air Corps March and March-Past of the U.S. Armed Forces I think the kid may have a future as a music critic.

Those San Rafael Pacifics, mentioned herein last week for their Alternative Facts Night, seem to like combining baseball with social action: On Aug. 26, in support of Tri-Valley Socks (Stepping Out for Cancer Kures), they will make baseball history, says an announcement, by being the first professional mens team to wear bras over their jerseys to support the fight against breast cancer. Challenge to players in womens leagues: What are you going to do about the fight against prostate cancer?

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik

PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING

Can we get the

vegan chocolate bunny?

Little girl to mother, overheard at Target

in San Rafael by Gary Meyer

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One enemy saves another's life; an Iran-Iraq war story - San Francisco Chronicle

1. US and Russia Donald Trump Jr. said he met with a Russian lawyer connected to the Kremlin last year because he'd been told the person had "information helpful to" his father's campaign. In a statement to CNN, Trump Jr. said the meeting was set up by an acquaintance from the Miss Universe pageant and that he also invited Jared Kusher and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort to the meeting. Trump Jr. said the woman they met with said she had information that people connected to Russia were funding the DNC and supporting Hillary Clinton, before changing the subject to adoptions of Russian children. Trump Jr. said nothing came of the meeting and his father never knew about it.

The June 2016 meeting -- which happened two weeks after Donald Trump nabbed the GOP nomination -- is significant because it's the first known meeting of senior Trump officials with a Russian national during the campaign.

Overall about 45 fires are burning across parts of the West, which is suffering through a dry, hot summer. Six states are under red flag warnings, and things won't get better this week, since weather forecasters think lightning from thunderstorms will spark more blazes.

Fourteen different firesare burning from one end of the Golden State to the other, spurring thousands to evacuate. One of the fires, in Santa Barbara County in the south, threatened about 60 kids at a summer camp. They had to wait in a dining hall while firefighters fought the flames around them. The kids were unharmed. There are fires in Northern California too, must notably one in Butte County that's burned 5,600 acresand forced 4,000 people to flee.

Overall about 45 fires are burning across parts of the West, which is suffering through a dry, hot summer. Six states are under red flag warnings, and things won't get better this week, since weather forecasters think lightning from thunderstorms will spark more blazes.

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Was she out of paper?

The baby whisperer

Prison break

Police-assisted proposal

Too much to bear

Here's what's coming up later

Are you clueless or 2Legit2Quit?

Meet and greet

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5 things for Monday, July 10: The US and Russia, Iraq fighting, London market fire - CNN International

"Al-Abadi said the battle is settled and the remaining pockets of ISIS are encircled in the last inches of the city," his media office said in a statement.

The Prime Minister said the Iraqi military is fighting to free civilians whom ISIS is "using as human shields in approximately 50 to 100 houses."

Earlier Sunday, he tweeted that he'd arrived in the "liberated city of Mosul" and "congratulates the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people in achieving this great victory."

Video showed al-Abadi walking through streets in Mosul as crowds cheered him.

When the terror group seized Mosul in June of that year, it also took control of more than 2.5 million people and subjected some to horrors.

It beheaded people in public, threw gay men to their deaths from the top of buildings and made prisoners out of men who did not grow beards and women who did not wear Islamic clothing such as burqas.

Mosul has been considered one of the main entry points for foreign fighters coming into the country.

As fighters flocked to Mosul, hundreds of thousands of residents fled, prompting a refugee crisis.

The city is also near some of Iraq's most vital oil fields, as well an oil pipeline that services Turkey. Securing these fields could bolster Iraq's economy and hit ISIS' finances hard, as the militant group sells oil illegally to fund its operations.

First to fall was east Mosul, which was retaken in January. A second push, initiated in February, has focused on pushing remaining militants out of the west of the city.

Before ISIS seized control, Mosul was home to 2.5 million people. But hundreds of thousands fled as ISIS asserted their violent, extremist policies.

CNN's Ali Younes and Faith Karimi contributed to this report.

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Iraq's PM arrives in Mosul, prepares to declare victory

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has arrived in Mosul to declare victory over ISIS in the city, his office said.

Small pockets of fighting were still ongoing near the Tigris river, but the militants are expected to be defeated, a spokesman told NBC News.

A picture of his arrival was posted on his official Twitter feed.

"The commander in chief of the armed forces (Prime Minister) Haider al-Abadi arrived in the liberated city of Mosul and congratulated the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people for the great victory," said a statement from his office.

Related: In Battle Against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, Civilians Suffer Most

State television later showed Abadi touring Mosul on foot alongside residents of Iraq's second-largest city, according to the Associated Press.

During a meeting with commanders in Mosul, Abadi said the battle against ISIS is "settled" and the victory in Mosul "is by our hand," according to a statement released by his office late Sunday night.

During the last day, Abadi said in the statement, a significant number of ISIS fighters were killed though security forces were still trying to free civilians from 50 to 100 homes where they were being used as human shields.

"We came today to Mosul to supervise the battle that left only one or two pockets that [are] still under the control" of ISIS fighters, Abadi said, adding that their only option was to die or surrender.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, center, shakes hands with army officers upon his arrival in Mosul to declare victory over ISIS in the city on Sunday, July 9, 2017. Iraqi Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP - Getty Images

Abadi's spokesman told NBC News Sunday night that celebrations and a victory speech were postponed until the parts of Mosul where fighting is still ongoing have been recaptured.

ISIS militants had seized the city in June of 2014, as the terror group spread over swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Iraqi forces, aided by airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition, have been battling to free the city for months and fighting had been

Combat since Iraq launched its offensive to retake Mosul in October has left parts of the city in ruins, killed thousands and displaced nearly one million people, according to Reuters.

But while the battle against ISIS in the city was drawing to an end,

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Iraq PM Abadi Arrives in Mosul to Declare 'Victory' Over ISIS - NBCNews.com

An Iraqi federal police member rests in the Old City of Mosul on July 8, 2017, as their part of the battle has been declared accomplished. (Photo by AFP)

Iraqi armed forces, backed by Popular Mobilization Units, have finally succeeded in mopping up the last remaining members of the Daesh Takfiri group in Mosul. The official announcement of the full liberation of the city has generated mixed feelings of hope and concern about the future of the Arab country. Press TV has asked Michael Springmann, an American author and former diplomat from Washington, and Richard Millet, a journalist and political commentator from London, to give their views on the significance of the liberation of Mosul.

Michael Springmann said that Iraqis need to be assured of the complete extermination of the terrorists before starting to rebuild Mosul and other parts of their country.

He said that regional and international powers are expected to withdraw their proxy forces to pave the way for the reconstruction of Iraq.

The best way to rebuild Iraq is to stop supporting [terrorist organizations], withdraw all the foreign forces from the country and provide them (Iraqis) with a Marshall plan ... to rebuild the destruction that has been caused by two American wars, the former diplomat said on Sunday night.

The United States attacked Iraq in a bid to push Iraqi forces to withdraw from Kuwait in 1990. Americans waged another war on Iraq in 2003 by occupying the country in an apparent attempt to overthrow former dictator Saddam Hussein.

Springmann recalled that there was no al-Qaeda or other extremist group in Iraq before the American invasion in 2003 and that as a result of the destabilizing US occupation, the Daesh Takfiri terrorists rose and launched their horrendous campaign of death and destruction.

The Americans and their repressive and repulsive allies in the region have been working very hard to support these various terrorist groups in order to push forward their agenda, he analyzed.

Referring to the United States role in creating and supporting terrorist organizations in the region, he argued that Washington started to support the so-called Mujahedin group in Afghanistan in 1979. There have been other fanatics such as al-Qaeda and Daesh that the Americans, the Saudis and the other folks have recruited, trained and supported for years, he added.

To sow discord among Arab and Muslim nations and to pursue their agenda in the Middle East, the Americans and the Europeans made up the religious split, he explained.

The Iraqi Sunni and Shia populations had long been living together in peace and tranquility until the Americans and their Wahhabi allies moved into Iraq and tried to split them up, Springmann said.

Meanwhile, Richard Millet expressed hope that the Iraqi people would get back to normality after the liberation of the countrys second largest city from Daesh.

He also called for handing over the Arab country to the Iraqi people, claiming that a rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has created insecurity in Iraq and Syria.

The analyst further noted that the defeat of Daesh in Mosul does not mean the end of the terrorist group, because Daesh has become an ideology like al-Qaeda.

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'Full withdrawal of terrorists prelude to rebuilding Iraq' - Press TV