Yesterday I signed copies of Colorado Scenic Byways: Taking the Other Road, my new book with photographer Jim Steinberg for Hillary and Bill Clinton and Barack and Michelle Obama. No, not in person. Still, it's exciting to write those names on a fresh copy of a book I've written and know that it'll be in their hands next week.How did I get to sign books for Hillary and Bill and Barack and Michelle? Colorado's Governor Bill Ritter picked Colorado Scenic Byways as his personal gift to "selected" attendees of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. (That he and his staff knew about the book is a tribute to Jim's persistence and vision, and to his pr team, Regan Petersen and Debbie Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Petersen Communications.)
The Governor's Office ordered copies of the book before it was even delivered from the printer in Korea (it's not out officially until September 3), which they planned to give to the governors of other states attending the DNC and other dignitaries. At the last minute, they decided to give one each for Hillary and Bill and Barack and Michelle. (For you trivia fans out there, etiquette requires that they be addressed in writing as "President Bill and Senator Hillary Clinton," and "Senator and Mrs. Barack Obama." If I were Michelle, I would hate that!)
Colorado Scenic Byways: Taking the Other Road is a book I'm proud to have written. The slip-cased, two-volume set pairs Jim's gorgeous photographs and my words to portray the heart of the state through its 25 designated scenic byways. The pair of books--a coffee table book of full-bleed photos and lyrical essays and an atlas & road guide--explores Colorado's sights and stories from the wide-open plains to the nosebleed heights of the high peaks and the technicolor canyons of the plateau country. It's an invitation to take to the road and see the real Colorado--taste a peach ripe off the tree, smell the prairie in spring, hear the marmots whistle from alpine ridges, and watch the stars wink on in the evening sky.
And yesterday, I got to sign a copy each for Hillary and Bill Clinton, and Barack and Michelle Obama. How cool is that?!
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7 comments:
Hot dang! That is transcendentally cool! And I am stunned at how quickly these books have come together. Good work, y'all. Us lowly unpolitical types look forward to our copies.
Now that's really cool!!
I read a review in the recent Bloomsbury Review - and can't wait to get my hands on a copy!
I'm a bit late, Susan, but very cool indeed! Must go Twitter about you. :)
Dani
http://twitter.com/blogbooktours
Wow! What a great honor, and what a beautiful book! Many congratulations to you for creating something so special, and for getting the chance to sign it for such bigwigs. (I too would never want my name erased in the way Michelle Obama's is erased there!)
Well, I'm a bit late in commenting on this blog entry, but here goes...
I've often said, still say on occasion, there's a sorcery at work in Salida. 'Tis a wonderful thing to hear it's also at work outside our town's borders, for the benefit of its citizens. Gov Ritter did the foreword, which is blessing already. That he ordered copies for the gifting... And SJT gets to autograph copies for such esteemed to-be-readers... Doesn't it make the memories of frustration and weariness, pulling the text together, vaporize?
May I find out for myself, someday.
Well, I'm a bit late in commenting on this blog entry, but here goes...
I've often said, still say on occasion, there's a sorcery at work in Salida. 'Tis a wonderful thing to hear it's also at work outside our town's borders, for the benefit of its citizens. Gov Ritter did the foreword, which is blessing already. That he ordered copies for the gifting... And SJT gets to autograph copies for such esteemed to-be-readers... Doesn't it make the memories of frustration and weariness, pulling the text together, vaporize?
May I find out for myself, someday.
I'll have to look into getting those books. We spent 5 months in Colorado last year, exploring the back roads and touring the Rockies as often as we could.
And signing books? Wow!
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