From this Book Signing in Corte Medera CA
Posted on 08/17/2003 4:43:02 AM PDT by JulieRNR21
VINEYARD HAVEN - The first two in line, sisters-in-law Kim and Marcia Quitadamo of Worcester, showed up outside the Bunch of Grapes bookstore at 5:30 - that's 5:30 a.m.
Within two hours, enough others had shown up for a 4 p.m. appearance by U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton that Tisbury police asked bookstore manager Robby Bick to open his doors at 7:30 a.m., 90 minutes early.
"We have about 1,500 books in the store," Bick said early yesterday afternoon. "Or we had 1,500 books in the store," he said alluding to brisk sales.
The final stop on Clinton's book tour for her memoirs, "Living History," came yesterday on the Vineyard, a favorite vacation haunt of Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
The pair arrived by plane early yesterday afternoon, without their daughter, Chelsea. They are staying for a week at the Chilmark home of actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen.
The former president did not attend the book signing.
By 3 p.m., the line from Bunch of Grapes stretched 50 feet north to Centre Street, then down the road at least 150 yards.
Several people were asked why "Living History," a book that drew lukewarm reviews but sells 50,000 copies a week, is so popular.
"She has been able to weather the storm," said Debra Bullock, a Democratic activist from Baltimore and one of a group of seven. "I just think she has strength as a woman that is incredible."
"I just give that woman a lot of credit," said Bernardine Urquhart of Mashpee, a retired nurse. "I don't know if I could have held up."
Urquhart's husband, Bruce, who had bought a book about the 1919 molasses flood in Boston, said he was not surprised by the success of "Living History."
"I think she is a very interesting woman and a lot of people want to learn more about her," he said.
But not everyone who turned out was so enamored of the junior senator from New York.
Across the street stood a half-dozen demonstrators wearing masks, holding anti-Clinton signs and blaring the Rolling Stones song "Sympathy for the Devil" and Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart."
One of the protesters, Roger Bannon of Palm Key, Fla., wore a Satan mask and held a sign reading, "Bill Clinton married my sister."
But the Clinton foes were outnumbered, as evidenced by the huge cheer that went up when Mrs. Clinton arrived a few minutes late in a green Suburban.
Given the expected crowd, a few conditions were in place. A limit of 1,000 books would be signed, with no inscriptions and only two per customer. The store had been checked out several times since Wednesday by Secret Service agents, a protection accorded Clinton as a former first lady.
One thousand tickets had been printed to guarantee patrons a place in line.
At the head of the line was Oak Bluffs resident Bonnie Meras, Class of '53 at Wellesley College, Clinton's alma mater.
"I was a poli-sci major, just as Hillary Clinton was," Meras said.
"Yay, Wellesley," Clinton said after Meras introduced herself. "Have you been back?"
Yes, for her 50th reunion, Meras said.
Clinton recognized another woman from previous visits to the island and the two hugged. "How has your summer been? You look fabulous."
Bookstore clerk Avia Moore said she noticed several women wipe away tears after Clinton greeted them and signed their books.
One woman told Moore she bought two books for her granddaughters, "because I want them to have books signed by the first female president," Moore recounted.
Clinton was still signing shortly after 6 p.m. when the Secret Service intervened and called it a day, according to Jon Nelson, who manages the bookstore with his mother, Ann Nelson, the owner. By then, about 950 of 1,000 tickets were gone.
After the last book was signed, Clinton posed for photos with bookstore employees who had just worked what they described as the busiest day they've had.
From our super secret FReeper listening devices planted in the store several weeks prior, "Measure it again Charlie.......Look I'm telling you, this back door is too narrow, that ass will never make it through, even sideways.......We'll she can't come in the front door........Well she can't come through this one......"
Excellent! Happy that Freepers were in Martha's Vineyard to Freep Hillary.Firebrand's new "after action" thread is now posted HERE:
Looking forward to report and photos.
Free Republic at Martha's Vineyard---Hillary Freep
August 17, 2003 | me
Posted on 08/17/2003 2:40 PM PDT by firebrand
When we first got there, I checked out the line. It wasn't that long. But people were holding strange cardboard squares that said funny things like "500," "600," etc. These squares bore no relation to the number of people in line. Someone explained that they represented the number of tickets. Oh. But it didn't seem that these ghost ticket holders ever showed up. ??? Never mind . . .
There were two women near the door to the bookstore holding antiwar signs. They said "Hillary: Why did you vote for an unjust war?" That was fine. They were on the bookstore side of the street and we were on the other side. But then the police decided all protesters had to be together across the street from the bookstore. So we had lefties right in the middle of us, confusing the message.
Then one really obnoxious character decided to be the first one the people in cars saw as they passed the bookstore. Clever of her. At a fast glance it looked like an 8-person pro-Hillary demonstration, instead of 5 freepers who had broken their cookies to get there and 3 left-wing nutcases.
I thought the two groups should have been kept in separate places, but the cops did not agree with me. Thus we were all smooshed together.
We got about half and half positive and negative feedback, I would say. The Vineyard is pretty liberal. One man said, "You must be from Nantucket." So if you're planning a vacation on a Cape Cod island, make it Nantucket, not the Vineyard. We got the usual single digits, thumbs-down, and thumps-up.
It was a polite, intelligent crowd, and Martha's Vineyard is a beautiful, quaint island.
We spotted the Creamsicle-colored pantsuit with capri-length pants as the Fashion Victim exited the store, and gave her some resounding boos that completely downed out any cheers from others.
A fine finale for the last book signing. What was that slogan again? Oh yeah, We Are Everywhere.
And here are the pix:
Don't laugh...
CLICK HERE for the rst of that thread
Guess the stench was just too much for them.
From this Book Signing in Corte Medera CA
And don't forget she was also in Detroit this past week. They were hit with the blackout too.
Yes, annoying Hillary is really just a fringe benefit. And you can bet she IS annoyed. Her coy little "I don't care" attitude isn't fooling anybody, well, except maybe the Stepford RATs.
Oh come now. Don't hold back. Give us your honest opinion. LOL!
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