Books
Because I lived in New Hampshire for twenty years, a state where the primary season essentially lasts for four years, I was exposed to potential presidential wannabees several times over. I saw which ones were yahoos and which had real promise. As a result, I’ve served as the editor for three quote books exploring a few of these candidates in depth: Colin Powell, Howard Dean, and Barack Obama. I never met any of them until May 2007, when I was fortunate enough to attend a dinner where Obama was the keynote speaker. I planned to give him a copy of my book.
The receiving line to shake his hand moved relatively quickly. I had already signed a copy of my book for him that said “Thanks for letting me live inside your brain for a few weeks in order to write this.” I got up to him, shook his hand, and handed him the book. He immediately looked around for a pen.
I said, “No, I signed this for you, I wrote this book.” He looked at the book, then at my nametag, and said, “You don’t know how many times I’ve signed this book for people.”
Big laugh. I apologized for stealing some of his royalties, he laughed and said not to worry about it.
Here’s a picture someone snapped of me and Obama at the dinner. No, I didn’t slap him or pinch his cheeks.
