TEAM OBAMA - The president posed with members of the Columbus Crew soccer team yesterday during a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House.
(Alex Brandon/ Associated Press)
political notebook
Lavish Kennedy book to sell for $1k a copy
TEAM OBAMA - The president posed with members of the Columbus Crew soccer team yesterday during a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House.
(Alex Brandon/ Associated Press)
July 14, 2009
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At a time when publishers are scrambling to keep customers willing to pay $26 for a hardcover book instead of $9.99 for an electronic version, the publisher of Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s forthcoming memoir is going in the opposite direction - issuing a limited edition it plans to sell for $1,000 a copy.
Twelve, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, is planning to issue 1,000 copies of a leather-bound, electronically signed edition of “True Compass’’ and sell them through the website of Hachette Book Group, the parent company of Grand Central. Although publishers and licensed contractors do occasionally produce collectors’ editions on various titles, such a premium version is quite rare.
Kennedy, 77, reportedly received an $8 million advance for the memoir that he wrote in collaboration with Ron Powers, an author of “Flags of Our Fathers,’’ about the Marines who raised the US flag at Iwo Jima during World War II, and other biographies. Kennedy’s book was originally scheduled for a 2010 publication date. Twelve is now planning to release the regular hardcover edition on Oct. 6, with a retail list price of $35. It is planning an initial print run of 1.5 million copies.
NEW YORK TIMES
Overnight guests lists for Camp David are released
WASHINGTON - Former president George W. Bush’s overnight guests shortly before he left office included Republican Senator Judd Gregg, who spent the night at the Camp David presidential retreat in January just weeks before President Obama asked him to serve in his Cabinet, guest lists released yesterday show.The New Hampshire senator initially accepted Obama’s nomination as commerce secretary, but then withdrew a few weeks later. The Greggs slept over at Camp David at least twice during Bush’s tenure. Judd Gregg and Bush are longtime friends; Gregg played the role of Democrat Al Gore as Bush prepared to debate Gore in 2000, and portrayed Democratic nominee John F. Kerry during Bush’s 2004 debate rehearsals.
The overnight guest lists, released at the request of the Associated Press, cover Bush’s second term. A fund-raising scandal during President Bill Clinton’s tenure in which Democratic donors were invited to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom led Bush to identify his guests. An Obama spokesman has said Obama also will provide lists of his White House and Camp David overnight guests, but has not yet decided on the timing.
As in Bush’s first term, his second-term roster is dominated by family, friends, and Cabinet members. The most famous names include pro golfer Ben Crenshaw, who spent the night at the White House and Camp David, and Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill, who stayed at the White House. More than two dozen foreign dignitaries visited Camp David during Bush’s second term.
Besides the Greggs, Bush guests at Camp David during his final days in office included several top administration officials: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, national security adviser Stephen Hadley, and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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