Posted on 08/19/2004 3:01:51 AM PDT by ninonitti
Former president Bill Clinton. Photo by Ralph Stewart
Most people waiting in the snaking line had yet to read one of the whopping 957 pages of Bill Clinton’s “My Life,” published by Knopf in June. Some said they might get around to reading the $35 hardback they had to purchase to be admitted to Bunch of Grapes on Monday morning. People of all ages, from little girls too young to remember his presidency (but who still spent all of their allowance money on his book), to elderly Islanders who have likely lived through more than a dozen leaders, really just wanted to shake the powerful hand of this larger-than-life seminal figure of our time.
“Please turn your books to the title page,” instructed the store employee in charge of line control upstairs, where the signing took place. Beaming folks in dripping yellow ponchos, Red Sox caps, and waterproof parkas cheerfully did as they were told, as they eagerly awaited the start of the three-hour signing session.
A startling number of people had actually been waiting all night long, rock star-style – in the rain, no less — to be one of the lucky 1,000 to attend the unadvertised event. When shop manager Robby Bick arrived at
4 am, he said there were about 50 people already in line. No tickets were distributed until 7 am, when the crowd swelled to two hundred; but as of 10 am, there were still about 600 tickets left. (By the day’s end, though, about 1,000 people passed through the store, and the entire stock of “My Life” sold out.)
Lines wound around the block. Buff secret service men guarded the door, security guards swiped down customers with metal detectors, traffic was at a standstill, and umbrella-protected onlookers swarmed the streets.
To cheers and applause, in waltzed the 42nd President of the United States, as the crowd crooned a premature “Happy Birthday” for their political hero, who turns 58 today. Dressed in jeans and a hot-pink polo (collar down), his hair was noticeably whiter in person than in the soaring photographs on his book jacket behind him. He offered a huge smile, raised a blue felt-tip pen, and greeted his first fan, Jarrett Washington — who ferried over from Hyannis the night before to sleep under the awning on Main Street and ensure his numero uno spot in line.
“What a rush!” gushed a starry-eyed Mr. Washington, as he floated away from the signing table. “This is one of the best moments of my life. It reminds me that anything is possible in America. That we can’t give up. Bill Clinton has always given hope to the little people.”
Everyone seemed to walk away from the 15-second encounter with a similarly dazed expression and a hugely satisfied grin. “Oh that was great!” exclaimed one woman, clutching her book to her chest. “I loved shaking his hand! I could’ve shaken it a million times! Bill Clinton is the man.”
Many Vineyarders said they would vote for Clinton again, if only they could. “I don’t believe in term limits. At all,” said Alan Parker. “We should be able to elect who we want to.”
Over and over, the president extended his hand, signed his book, and offered a sincere “Hello, how are you? Hope you enjoy it.” He gave a thumbs-up here, a salute there. Around 10:45 am, he cracked a can of Diet Coke.
A few dared to alter the script. “Still running?” asked one woman in sneakers, anxious to connect on common ground. “You should have run in the Chilmark Road Race.” And despite the strict “books-only” warning, several folks snuck in other items for signing: sweatshirts from his 1993 inauguration; Martha’s Vineyard postcards, Vote Kerry T-shirts. Dave Agin of Vineyard Haven even stayed up until 2 am, superimposing himself alongside a photo of Clinton on the golf course so he could have the president sign it as a phony legacy.
Press guy Craig Minassian dispelled rumors that the Clintons recently bought a house here, but the president has, of course, been hobnobbing and holidaying here for years. The index of his book lists about a dozen references to the Island — from reunions with antiwar activists to golf outings with Warren Buffett to dinners with “Bill” Styron, and family vacations crabbing on Oyster Pond.
He began working on his autobiography in 2002, and actually wrote a chunk of it here while Hillary and Chelsea were out and about.
“I wanted to write it while it was still fresh in my mind,” he said. “I wanted to give people a feel of what it was literally like to be president on a day-to-day basis. And tell the history of America through my life, through my eight years.”
Turning attention briefly away from his book, the president took a few moments to speak with a small group of Island press.
“Do not be discouraged,” he advised, by today’s embittered political climate, as he rattled off an effortlessly eloquent 10-minute lesson on partisan politics, from the days of Adams and Jefferson through the present. As for November’s pivotal presidential race, he said he is “very optimistic.”
“We always choose the course that widens and strengthens a government of freedom,” he said, expressing his faith in America; and diplomatically offered his prediction. “It is more likely that Kerry will win.”
Despite his bestseller’s heft, he said there are still more stories he hopes to tell and volumes on both foreign and domestic policy he would like to write. On whether the writing itself is any good, he laughed, “Larry McMurtry gave me one of my best reviews in the New York Times. I thought, well, if writers like it, maybe it’s okay.”
His own review? “It sure is a good story,” he wrote in the last line of the prologue.
Mr Washington needs maybe to start carrying some bricks in his shorts so he won't float so much-he's lighter in the loafers than NJ's McGraby.
I think this writer must have graduated from the Monica Lewinsky School of Kneepad Journalism.
He's back freeloading on the Vineyard and will be teeing up Vern Jordan - yucking it up about "pussy" on the fairways.
Why couldn't he find a nice vacation spot say down in Arkansas fronting on some nice Whitewater and go tubing?
No wonder the Democrats don't want to fix the schools. Keep the sheeple dumb and celebrity conscious. It works for them beautifully.
And if Her Hillariness is off island you can bet he was getting some strange.
Funny, I thought he would be smoking crack or snorting coke...that's really not an offhand comment. Sad and TRUE.
clinton?? Isn't he dead from aids yet?
Correction...article should begin:
"Most people waiting in the snake-oil line..."
What does that mean ? Did he mean "more THAN likely "? It is more likely that Kerry will win than make an unscheduled landing on Uranus.
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