President Bill Clinton in Austin May 5th for book signing

[sonias]

*******************************
PRESIDENT CLINTON AT BOOKPEOPLE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE: BOOKPEOPLE
THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2005

Meet President William Jefferson Clinton at BookPeople. President William Jefferson Clinton will be signing his memoir, MY LIFE, on Thursday, May 5th at 10:00 a.m. The Austin signing was added to President Clinton’s schedule late Wednesday April 27th. This event will be handled differently than most book signings at BookPeople due to security concerns.

To have a book signed, all customers much purchase a voucher/line ticket at BookPeople. These vouchers will be exchanged for books signed by President Clinton on Thursday. Due to security constraints, we regret that we are unable to have previously purchased books signed at this event. Arrangements will be made for customers who have previously purchased a copy of MY LIFE from BookPeople to exchange their book for a voucher.

If you have purchased a voucher in advance, BookPeople recommends lining up between 8:00 am and 9:00 am. BookPeople will open for business at 9:00 am on Thursday May 5th—but getting in line early is a good idea. BookPeople employees will be making announcements about the event and serving coffee on the line.

There will be a photo op inside the store at 10:00 am, shortly before the signing begins. Please email Erin Kelly ([e-mail]) to receive security details surrounding this event as they become available.

Vouchers go on sale Thursday April 28th at 9:00 am.

Please note the complete list of signing rules:
*Limit of FIVE books per customer
*Customers must purchase a voucher in order to have a book signed. Books previously purchased at BookPeople may be exchanged for a voucher
*President Clinton will not be able to personalize any books
*No cameras, photographs, or cell phones will be allowed in the signing room
*For security reasons, no bags, purses, or other personal items may be brought in to the signing area. BookPeople will provide a bag check area for the line.

Thursday, May 5, 2005
10:00 a.m.
BookPeople, 603 N.Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX, 78703
[phone]
www.bookpeople.com
(from the Travis Co. Democratic Party mailing list)
--------------------
:dem:

Sonia

[Catherine Vincent]

1. I sure wish he'd come to Houston.

I'd camp out overnight if I had the opportunity to meet that man.

[muse]

2. I am thinking the SAME thing!

I want him here. In Houston.

[sonias]

4. Do you have an independent book store in Houston

It seems like the Clintons both like to do their book signings with the local independents. Hillary did the same thing on her book tour here in Austin.

Don't give up hope, you never know when he might show up. He likes contact with people. Check with the county Democratic party and see if he may be doing a mini-tour. It would make sense that if he's in Austin he would make Houston and Dallas too. Hillary was just hear doing some fundraising as well.

I think he should go to Houston just to piss off Tom DeLay.


Sonia

[CitySky]

9. Brazos Books, yes?

best bet?

Austin wouldn't be too far if it were a weekend. But tough to swing on a Thursday.

Will those of you who meet the Big Dog please at least post about it so we can live the moment vicariously through you?

[sonias]

10. Will do CitySky

Hillary had the same kind of setup for her book signing and it was amazing how quick they moved us through there. I was so flustered I can't even remember what she was wearing, but I do remember she looked good. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Big Dog too. He'll look even better to me. :)

Sonia

[WolverineDG]

3. DAMN

I have court that day. I wanna shake his hand again! You would not believe the charisma he has.

Oh well, I'll clue in my friends who live in Austin, maybe they can get a book for me. :)

dg

[GOPisEvil]

5. 10:00am?!

x( Dammit!

I'll hope to make it, but if anyone is going for sure, I'll give you some $ for a book.

[NoPasaran]

6. I may just call in sick that day

I feel a touch of that old beri-beri coming on.

[GOPisEvil]

7. I'd hate to get caught on film that day.

:D

[NoPasaran]

8. Standing in line

Is one of the most effective treatments for beri-beri, as it turns out.

[muse]

11. That's what I was thinking.

which would be great because I work only a few miles from there!

[Dover]

12. don't forget to feed the freepers

This is from Freeperville:

Heart of Texas Chapter FReeping Bubba Thursday 5/5 9:30AM(Austin Texas)
Heart of Texas Chapter ^


Posted on 05/02/2005 9:31:41 PM PDT by DrewsDad


WHAT: FReep the Creep
Bill Clinton will be in Austin to sign his book My Life(Lies)
Bring signs and your voices for chants as we stand across from all of the Clinton Clowns standing in line.

WHERE: SE corner of Bookpeople (1 block east of 6th and Lamar which is Henderson St. and 6th)
If parking lot is full, there is a park 2 block north of there. MAP

WHEN: 9:30AM Thursday 5/5 (Book Signing starts at 10)


This is the same place where we had the Hillary FReep

[NoPasaran]

13. Don't worry

I'll have my piss-filled water balloons at the ready.

[sonias]

14. They were pathetic for Hillary's book signing too

We outnumbered them about 80 to 1 then. When I got my voucher for Bill's book, they told me they had already sold 1,000 vouchers and that was last Friday.

We'll have maybe 20 freepers. That's OK, this is America and we Democrats support free speech. If this was a bu$hie event though, you couldn't get a mile away from the little dictator, without taking a loyalty oath.

Things were so much better when President Clinton was in charge of this country.

Sonia

[WestHoustonDem]

15. We had a freeper at the billboard visibiltiy event downtown yesterday

He was beyond pathetic.

[NoPasaran]

16. Newsflash phoned in by shaz

BookPeople has sold out of vouchers for this event. So if you were thinking of making a special trip down there today... don't.

[sonias]

17. Sold-out !!

Woo Hoo! What time you getting out there? I'm think of getting out there around 7:30 and taking a lot of stuff to read. They'll take your pack away the store anyhow. Biggest mistake last time was not bringing something warm to wear. It's very cool in the morning.

Sonia

[NoPasaran]

18. I got a call at some ungodly hour this morning

Suggesting getting there by 6AM!

Oh well, if I don't get my book signed I'll just blame the DLC.

[GOPisEvil]

19. !!!

Good luck! :thumbsup:

[Catherine Vincent]

20. I hope we get to see pics!

Love the Big Dog!

[GOPisEvil]

21. Early picture here.

http://austin.metblogs.com/

Not taken by me.

[sonias]

22. I love the Big Dog too!

President Clinton did the best he could and I'm sure he signed at least 1,000 copies but they sold about 1,200 or so vouchers. The Secret Service also changed the rules. You could only get one copy signed per person and they started the signing 9:00 a.m. instead of 10:00. A lot of people who got there at 9:00 may not have made the cut-off.

I got there at 7:30 and there was probably 500-700 people already in line. It moved pretty quickly though and I got my book signed at around 10:30.

Our local young activist from DFT, William was the second person in line and he'd been in line since midnight. He didn't sleep at all. When he came out of the building, he told us that Bill was shaking hands and he got a card signed as well as his book. He was really psyched. I'm happy for William.

President Clinton was extremely friendly. He shook everyone's hand. He was standing the whole time signing with his left hand and shaking hands with his right hand. Extremely good looking. Very charming. I heard some people when they came out and saying he had hugged them or even taken pictures with them.

When it came to my turn he gave me a big smile and said hello how are you. I couldn't even think of anything to say to him, so I just said "thank you President Clinton". It seemed like he shook my hand the whole time he signed the book. It was awesome. I met the Big Dog and the Big Dog is wonderful. I thought he looked very fit. Everyone had a big grin on their face as they walked out of the room.

One young teen near me got Bill to sign his sweat shirt as well as his book. And when the President left he briefly stood out on the street behind BookPeople, and shook people's hands at the back of the line. Classy guy. He couldn't get to all of them, but he did try. He was really tired by then.

You were not allowed to take cameras in, but the staff at book people was taking photos for their event archive. When he stopped signing books for people at around 11:30, he supposedly did some photo ops with people and signed another 50 books or so for stock that went to the next 50 people in line. So many hundreds were left in line without a signed copy of the book. I saw our TX Democratic party chair Charles Soechting with two books. Donna from the State Party office also said Bill did personalize her copy, since she told him it was going to be auctioned to raise money for the party.

The Kinksters where out in force and Kinky even worked the line for a bit. I saw at least 4 of our city council council candidates working the line, Andrew Bucknall, Margot Clark, Mandy Dealy and Jennifer Kim.

The freeper protest consisted of about 6 people standing on the sidewalk across from GSD&M. Pretty pathetic. They had a young boy of about 10 years old with them. A few people in line said this kid was shooting the finger at them. Family values voters you know. I tried to take a picture but my camera's batteries were dead. Oh well, why spoil a great day with freeper images anyway.

:evilgrin:

Sonia

[Catherine Vincent]

23. Thanks so much for the Big Dog Report. :-)

Just reading your response as you finally got to see him gave me goose bumps. It's like I was right there with you, very good description of the scene. If he had asked me how I was doing, I probably would have blabbed something stupid being all nervous. LOL! I just love him.

[texas_teacher]

24. Had a Great Time

This was my first time meeting President Clinton and it was great, despite the rush to get through so many people.

The person who posted their experiences at the bookstore did so better than I could. Bill was friendly and gracious and shook hands with everyone. This really was a dream come true.

After the Secret Service cut off the line, I was still waiting to see if I could trade in my voucher for a signed book (to give to my sister). We noticed that the police were getting ready to escort Bill out so I walked over to the loading dock area.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was going to walk across the street. There were probably 15 or 20 people standing around so when he came out he made a bee-line for the people standing there and shook hands again.

My friend was wearing an Eagles t-shirt and Bill stopped and pointed to her and said, "I really like you're Eagles t-shirt. I'm a big fan". We pointed out that we knew members of the band were big fans of his and he smiled and said, "Henley's a good friend of mine". So, for a Bill fan and an Eagles fan, this was an incredibly special experience.

A note about the Freepers. For a while there was only one guy holding 2 signs. Then 4 more people joined him including the little boy who is being featured on the Statesman's main page. I understand having different opinions and had heard stories about how Freepers use children, but my mouth literally hung open when I saw this boy. He was probably around 8 and at one point was giving people in line the finger. He also screamed ".....BITCH!" at either someone in line or someone in a car. Additionally, he had one of those big rubber bands and was pointing it like a slingshot at people in line and saying "bang...bang" It was incredibly creepy. Of course his Freeper parents smiled at him. Gross.

That didn't detract from the specialness of the day, though.

Melissa

[CitySky]

26. Thanks SoniaS & Texas_Teacher for your reports!

Just "wow."

[Catherine Vincent]

27. Your Big Dog Report was good too.

And it was very smart of you and your friend to head to the loading dock. Anything to meet the prez. I probably would never wash my hand the shook the hands of Clinton. :-)

I can't believe that freeper kid.

[NoPasaran]

33. Yeah, Little Chuckie the freeper kid was a real piece of work

Remember that face. You'll be seeing it at the post office someday. And NOT on a stamp.

[sonias]

34. hate is already in that boy's eyes

Sad indeed. Born into a life of intolerance.

Sonia

[NoPasaran]

35. The story in the Slag said he was homeskooled

And he was learning about the First Amendment. Too bad he wasn't also studying math---6 vile freepers across the stret from 1,100 people waiting to see the Big Dog.

[GOPisEvil]

31. Teaching an 8-year-old that kind of language and behavior?

Good ol' Republican family values!

Thanks for the report, lucky duck! :)

[movie_girl99]

32. as i read about your experiences

i cant help but have this big cheesy grin on my face. he is such an awesome example of a human being. so gracious and thoughtful. I'm just in awe that you all got to see and better yet speak to him. What a dream come true.

[WolverineDG]

25. I got to shake his hand once

the night before Election Day '92, when he did the "Campaign Around the Clock." He made a stop in McAllen & I went. Stood out at the airport for freaking HOURS because he was late (as usual). But, at the end, he began to work the rope line & I got to shake his hand. WOW.

I swear to God, the only thing that stopped that man from shaking people's hands was the fence surrounding the airport...no more room for people to line up....oh & the secret service that dragged him kicking & screaming back to the plane where Hillary was probably tapping her foot & looking at her watch. ;)

I still think "wow" when I remember that night & cry when I think of who replaced him.

dg

[Catherine Vincent]

28. In one of Clinton's past interviews he said he would always try and

meet the people because he remembers what it meant to him when he met President Kennedy.

[texas_teacher]

29. Cool!

I was in McAllen too that night. Didn't get close enough to the rope-line, but that was one magical rally!

[WolverineDG]

36. Hey!

You should have stuck around. I got there early enough to get behind the VIP section, which by the time the VIPs got there was about seven deep. But, when the speeches ended, most folks left. Since I knew from the media reports that Clinton would work the crowd, I began to scout out places along the rope to line up. Sure enough, a space opened up (fortunately close to one of those cemented poles that they tied the rope to...more on that later). Next to me was a couple & their 2 or 3 year old daughter, dressed as cute as a button in the frilly dress with the lace underwear. She was holding a "Clinton-Gore" sign upside down. Gosh, she was sure cute.

Anyway, as the crowd began to realize it wasn't over, more & more people began crowding the ropes. Someone tried to pull me away from my spot, but I grabbed the pole & the father of the little girl also ran interference since we had been standing there for about 10 minutes. Folks then started going further & further down the line & they had to keep finding rope, then gave up & simply had cops & sheriff's deputies line folks up all the way to the fence.

By the time SOON TO BE Pres. Clinton got to my section of the rope, he was simply squeezing hands. But when he saw the little girl with the still-upside down Clinton-Gore sign, he stopped, knelt down & spoke with her a little bit. She giggled & grinned like it was nobody's business...folks you just CANNOT FAKE THAT WITH KIDS!!!! He stopped, spoke with the parents, looking at all three of us, shook all our hands. I was absolutely gobsmacked & couldn't squeak out ANYTHING, but I do remember feeling a shock of electricity when he shook my hand. We stopped & just stared at each other like "what the heck was that?" & then he moved on.

The only downside to that evening was the small group of what are now termed "freepers," holding Bush signs & being the representatives of the "family values" party that they are, started calling all the women bitches & whores, and yelling fuck you at everyone (including senior citizens, those dressed as veterans, & little kids). CREEPS!!! IIRC, I didn't get home until midnight or later, having to walk back to my car parked at the mall about a mile away. Thank heavens the school district I taught at gave us Election Day off. :)

I just can't believe that was almost 13 years ago!!!!!

dg

[sonias]

30. I have never seen him at a rally

I have tried however. Tried to get tickets to last year's event at UT. You literally had to camp out to get tickets. I wanted to hear him give a speech personally. It was awesome to shake his hand but I really wanted to hear him say a few words. I really love the way he treated the young kids in line. And all the ones I got to talk to were in awe of him too. We even talked about how Clinton himself was inspired by Jack Kennedy and you never know what other young kid in line could be the next President.

I miss the Big Dog being in charge too. We have lowered the bar so low we're drowning in muck. One woman in line with me said, "I'd rather have lies about sex than the lies about everything else we get these days"

Sonia