Diary of a Presidential Book Signing

Chappaqua, New York, is the home of former President Bill Clinton and Joan Ripley's Second Story Bookshop. It's also approximately 12 miles from ABA's headquarters in Tarrytown. So on a beautiful Saturday in July, when Second Story was putting on the biggest event it had ever hosted, several ABA staffers -- including Len Vlahos, director of BookSense.com; Kristen Gilligan, ABA's manager of communications and events; and Patti Neske, BookSense.com associate project manager -- were among those who volunteered to help out. Here Vlahos shares his account of a very special day.

Former President Bill Clinton with Second Story's staff and volunteers who assisted at the book signing. Photo courtesy of Ronni Diamondstein (c) 2004.

Kristen, the friend and colleague with whom I've already shared many a book-related adventure, caught me off guard: "How would you like to meet Bill Clinton?"

The former President had just scheduled a last minute book signing in his hometown of Chappaqua, New York, at the Second Story Bookshop, the same store that had employed Kristen before she came to work for ABA. In exchange for volunteering to help with the event, I'd get a signed copy of Clinton's new autobiography, My Life, and a chance to say hello to one of my political heroes. I was in.

Second Story's owner, Joan Ripley, and her team had only been informed about the signing -- scheduled for Saturday, July 3 -- on Monday, June 28. That left a scant four and a half days to organize and spread the word about the largest event the store had ever undertaken.

Clinton and Joan Ripley, owner of Second Story Book Shop. Photo by Patti Neske.

Judging by the exhausted looks on the faces of the Second Story staff the night before the signing -- when Kristen and I dropped off the red, white, and blue decorations -- the word had clearly been spread. We found Joan, her husband, Mills, and most of their employees in a makeshift "war room," where they were finalizing details for Clinton's appearance. During the past 48 hours the Second Story team had pre-sold nearly 1,000 copies of My Life, which was the limit, according to Clinton staffers, the President would be able to sign.

The event was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at the Chappaqua Community Center, so we all promised to arrive a few minutes before 8:00, to make sure we were mobilized in advance of the crowds.

Expecting to encounter no more than a few eager beavers lined up to see the former President, I was nothing short of stunned to see several hundred people waiting outside the community center as we approached at 7:45 the next morning.

The first person in line -- a woman from a nearby town -- had been there since 4:00 a.m.; the two college-age women behind her had been sitting in a car since 3:00 a.m.; and the Chappaqua police later told me that one enthusiastic fan arrived at the bookstore at 11:30 p.m. the previous night, finally leaving when the police insisted the store was, in fact, closed.

Len Vlahos and the former President. Photo by Patti Neske.

A swarm of Secret Service agents -- and yes, they really do wear wires in their ears and talk into their wrists -- were prepping the entrance with ropes, stanchions, and metal detectors as Kristen and I began to decorate. While we were hanging a Book Sense banner, I caught sight of Joan standing in the middle of the street, surrounded by no less than 10 people, all of them talking at once. Acknowledging my utter lack of artistic sensibility, I left Kristen to her own decorating devices and went to offer assistance with crowd control.

Many of the folks who started lining up in the middle of the night seemed oblivious to the well-broadcast rules for the event. Whoever bought the book ahead of time (from Second Story, of course), also purchased the right to be first in line. This created a conflict, and we were all momentarily worried things might spin out of control.

But between the 10 or so bookstore staff and volunteers under Joan's direction; the 10 or so Clinton volunteers under the direction of his able staffer, Brenda; the Secret Service; and the police, a crisis was averted. And, though hectic, the day went off without a hitch.

For the entire morning and into the afternoon my job was to make sure the line moved forward in an orderly, controllable manner, and that there was one book per customer, one customer per book, and no more than one kid per adult. (These were the rules established by the Secret Service.)

President Clinton stayed until every book was signed -- well over his 1,000-book limit -- and we were delighted when Brenda told us that the Second Story event was one of the best organized she'd seen so far. The store's customers were pleased, too.

"So many people have stopped by to tell us how smoothly they thought the signing went," Joan told me a couple of days later. "Our customers really felt it was a wonderful day for Chappaqua, and they were proud and happy to be part of this community."

Clinton signs a poster that will be used to raise funds for the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression Photo by Patti Neske.

After the last customer met the former President and had her book signed, it was time for the volunteers to go inside. I'd been on site for seven hours, and had been so focused on checking tickets, organizing lines, and answering questions, I had almost forgotten we were going to get to meet Clinton, too.

When we entered, the former President, wearing a short-sleeve, powder blue shirt and khaki pants, looked a bit tired, but also energized. He immediately came over and started shaking hands, chatting, and posing for photos. He even told us how much fun he'd had at BEA. I had been hearing for years about Bill Clinton's charisma, but you can't really appreciate it until you've encountered the man in person. In some ways it's hard to imagine he was President. In others, it's hard to imagine he was ever anything else.

But then I was reminded that even though we were in the presence of a man who once wielded more power than any person on the planet, we were also standing with a first-time author.

"So Joan, how'd we do today?" he asked, eager to know how the book was selling. "And did you see the McMurtry review?" There was a little kid quality to the excitement in his voice. (Clinton was referring to the glowing review of My Life by Larry McMurtry on the cover of that weekend's New York Times Book Review.) It was a pleasant reminder that people like Bill Clinton, people who lead extraordinary lives, are, at the end of the day, not so different from the rest of us.

When it was all over, the President -- still waving to his neighbors and fans -- was whisked away by the Secret Service, and we were left with the happy knowledge of a successful author event, and the memory of a day none of us would soon forget. --Len Vlahos