No. 1 Again

What do novelists Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith have in common? Other than that they were both reared in Scotland (though Smith was actually born in what was then Rhodesia), they’ve both now been inducted into the Order of the British Empire. Rankin was awarded the OBE, a British order of chivalry, in Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee Birthday Honors List back in June 2002, while Smith was just been made a CBE (Commander rank, as opposed to Rankin’s Officer grade, if I comprehend these degrees accurately) for his “services to literature.”

According to BBC News, Smith, who writes the best-selling Precious Ramotswe series (including 1998’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency), said after hearing about his award: “This is a tribute to one particular Botswana lady and what she represents. So I might say this award is really for Mma. Ramotswe.”