June 24, 1996
Web posted at: 12:10 a.m. EDT
NEWARK, New Jersey (CNN) -- The woman described by Bob Woodward as a spiritual adviser to first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton disputed several of Woodward's published assertions Sunday night .
Jean Houston, interviewed at the Newark Airport by CNN, said that Mrs. Clinton did indeed have imaginary conversations with Eleanor Roosevelt at Houston's suggestion. (153K AIFF or WAV sound)
"(But) that was maybe four minutes out of hours and hours of conversation," she said.
In his new book "The Choice," Woodward wrote that Houston, co-director of the Foundation of Mind Research, urged Mrs. Clinton to write "It Takes a Village," and assisted extensively in rewrites. Houston said that she did help edit the book, but that Mrs. Clinton "wrote that book entirely."
Houston said she made the suggestion to hold the imaginary conversations with Mrs. Roosevelt and others "to focus her busy mind on issues that surrounded the book." (255K AIFF or WAV sound)
"That was it," Houston said. "No spooks. No seances. Nothing. She's the least psychic person I've known, and I'm a close second. ... I don't have a psychic bone in my body." (204K AIFF or WAV sound)
Mrs. Clinton wrote about her imaginary conversations with Eleanor Roosevelt in her June 10 syndicated column. She said she talked to Roosevelt about the role of a first lady.
"She usually responds by telling me to buck up, or at least to grow skin as thick as a rhinoceros," Mrs. Clinton wrote.
Now that's just plain d@mn scary...what a wacko!
I thought Clinton didn't write that book ..
Dame Edna sounds curiously like Eleanor Rooseveldt with a british accent..