Request from John Edwards daughter Cate

[EC]

You may have heard that, in addition to everything else he's doing, my dad's working on a book. I'm writing to let you know more about the project, and to ask if you know of anyone who should be featured in it.

We're all really excited about the book, which he's calling "Blueprints: The Architecture of Our Lives." (I'm especially excited about it, because I'm working on it with him!) The book will feature some people who are well known and others who are not so well known, and it will offer images of each person's most significant early home (photos, floor plans, even sketches) along with a personal essay about what life was like in that home, and how that experience shaped his or her character.

My dad got the idea for the book when, during his presidential campaign, he visited his childhood home in Seneca, South Carolina. It's a small wooden house, the one my grandparents brought him to after he was born. The house was later featured in one of the TV ads for his campaign. Over and over, people told my father that seeing that house struck a powerful chord in them - because so many of us have memories of a place that was just as important and influential in our own lives.

That's part of what's so exciting about this book: even as it tells a few dozen stories about very different people, from very different backgrounds, who have lived very different lives, it will also tell a story of the common values and common dreams that unite us as Americans.

And that's why we need your help. We're looking for stories of all kinds, about all different kinds of people, and we're hoping you might know someone whose story would be perfect for the book.

There are only a few conditions. First, if you do have someone in mind, please check with him or her to confirm that he or she is interested in participating. Second, be sure that the person has some image of the house - a photo, a blueprint, a painting, a sketch. Remember, it doesn't necessarily have to be a parent's house - it could be a grandmother's apartment, or a vacation home - but it does have to be a house from childhood or adolescence. Finally, keep in mind that we're looking for people from all walks of life and all backgrounds - even all political parties!

We're on a tight schedule, so we need all nominations by August 12th. Here's how to nominate someone.

Thanks for your ideas. The book's going to be published by in the Fall of 2006 by Collins, part of HarperCollins Publishers ... we'll definitely keep you posted as we move along!

Cate

Nominate: We need your help. Click here to nominate: http://ga3.org/ct/_7znEH61vzBn/ to nominate someone who you think would be perfect for the book!

[notadmblnd]

1. Our recently departed Andy

should be in the book, although there are better people here to ask about him than me.

[EC]

4. I think that would be a good idea...

He deserves a note in history for his work for all Americans...

[fooj]

5. Yes. That would be wonderful!

Peace.

[blm]

2. Best of luck, Cate. It's a very noble project and you described it warmly.

I second the story of Andy, and also kef and nostamj.

[elehhhhna]

3. Start with your Mom.

We LOVE her!

[FuzzyDicePHL]

7. Agree!!

Luv me some Elizabeth Edwards!

[mikelewis]

11. No kidding

She has style, grace and doesn't talk to people like they're idiots. I remember one speech she gave that really clearified the message the campaign was trying to get out. It was in a school auditorium and she just talked plain talk about the future and thier vision. I wasn't too enthusiastic about John Edwards until I listened to the woman he married. She's a great lady and an inspiration. I hope she's feeling better

[Turn CO Blue]

12. I saw that same show you did

and was so impressed!

[dmr]

13. YES! I agree

I, along with my friends instantly connected with your mom, so I agree to please start with her.

I hope she is well, and I also think she would make a wonderful first lady.

Good luck on the project and give lots of hugs to your dad and mom for us.

:)

[deadparrot]

6. kick.

:kick:

and nominated.

[nyhuskyfan]

8. Darn. I was hoping the request would be for my phone number...

No such luck :(

I can't think of anyone to nominate. Everyone in my family has moved too frequently and none of the homes have any special meaning. But I'll keep it in mind if someone else's home fits the mold.

[PassingFair]

9. Pray gawd it doesn't start with...

"Mah daddy was ah mill worker...."
I've heard that before somewhere.......

[usregimechange]

22. I liked that about Sen. Edwards, wish I would have voted for him...

[PassingFair]

27. Yeah, I liked it the FIRST time I heard it...

problem was, then I heard it another 500 times....it never changed.
mill worker, 2 americas, mill worker, 2 americas...
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Same stump speech, different day.

[usregimechange]

28. You have to keep it simple. Polly sci, 101

[PassingFair]

29. Snore.......Actual Observer 101 n/t

[1932]

31. If 100 million voters know where he came from and 10,000 people who pay

way more attention to politics than the average American are bored of hearing it, guess who's doing his job right.

[PassingFair]

32. Huh?

If you say so...
:shrug:

[1932]

33. You really don't appreciate how that works?

:shrug:

If only the .1 percentile of voters who pay as much attention to politics as you do voted then Edwards and other politicians who hammer home their key points, like the oh so repetitive and boring Clinton with his "Boy from Hope" mantra in 1992, would be in trouble.

[PassingFair]

35. I thought that Kerry was the better speaker...

and I'm no Kerry fan.
All of the other dem candidates managed to mix it up a bit, but I swear, Edwards speech was the same from beginning to end.

[1932]

36. A lot of people did things better than Edwards. But this isn't about

being a good speaker. It's about picking an important piece of information about yourself that you want voters to know and then doing what you can to make sure they know that piece of information.

I heard the author of What's the Matter with Kansas talk about Edwards on the radio recently. He said that the important thing about Edwards was that he had an authenticity that the other Democrats lacked and that authenticity had to do with where he came from. The guy (Franks?) also said something about how Edwards did something good with class, but I honestly forget what the point was.

Anyway, that's why this piece of information -- son of a millwoker -- is so important.

Fault Edwards for whatever you want to fault him for doing wrong. But I really don't think you can fault him for making sure that everyone knew where he came from (and, by extension, that he was authentic).

Kerry mixing it up doesn't make him a better politician if the voters were mixed up about what he stood for.

[PassingFair]

37. You seem to be forgetting that he didn't

get many votes outside of the south.

[1932]

40. Without that speech he would have come in last.

Until he started giving that speach, he was at 5% in the polls.

He finished a very solid 2nd with a great deal of votes in non-southern states like Wisconsin, Ohio, New York. There weren't many states where he got less than 5%.

[Joanne98]

10. Our leadership! I rest my case!

[rateyes]

14. I hope Teresa Heinz Kerry is a part of that book...

what a story she has to tell! She would make one hell of a president.

And, as long as you're at it...both Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter.

I have a couple of people, privately, that I will suggest that I've met along the way...farmers and coal-miners in SW Virginia--no relatives--but, "salt of the earth" kind of people that I find fascinating.

[hopein08]

19. I second that, rateyes, Teresa Heinz Kerry

is definitely a good choice! It would be cool to hear/see more about her childhood in Africa. She ought to write a book herself, it would be hugely interesting to read.

[liberalpragmatist]

15. EC, are you Cate Edwards?

Sorry, I had to ask. I couldn't tell if you were just posting something by her or if you ARE her.

[EC]

41. No... n/t

[bananas]

16. "Grandpa" Al Lewis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Lewis

Al Lewis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Al Lewis (born April 30, 1910) is an American actor best known for the role of Grandpa Munster on the television series The Munsters.


"Grandpa" Al Lewis

Born Albert Meister, he worked as a circus performer in the late 1920s before earning a Ph.D. in child psychology from Columbia University in 1941. In 1949, Lewis returned to acting, working in burlesque and vaudeville theaters before appearing on Broadway in the 1950s.

Lewis' first well-known television role was as Officer Leo Schnauser on Car 54, Where Are You?, although he is best remembered as Grandpa on The Munsters. Later, he opened an Italian restaurant called "Grandpa's" in Greenwich Village, New York City.

A progressive activist, he has hosted a politically oriented radio show on WBAI-FM (still ongoing, as of this writing), and ran as Green Party candidate for governor of New York in 1998. In that race he sought to be listed on the ballot as "Grandpa Al Lewis", arguing that he was most widely known by that name. His request was rejected by the Board of Elections, a decision upheld in court against his challenge. Despite this setback, he achieved one of his campaign objectives. His total of 52,533 votes, because it exceeded the threshold of 50,000 votes set by New York law, guaranteed the Green Party an automatic ballot line for the succeeding four years. (See Election results, New York governor.)

Despite his age, Lewis continues to act and make public appearances to this day.


External links
IMDb Entry
An Interview with Al Lewis
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Lewis"
Categories: 1910 births | Television actors | American actors | Green politicians | New York politicians

[EC]

42. Now, he would be interesting,

I'd bet even his house would be interesting..and an activist to boot..

[Catchawave]

17. So glad you posted this EC !

I really miss the Edwards family! I hear both John and Elizabeth are writing books and planning on buying both, maybe more as gifts. They are very inspiring people!

I'm nominating my husband, he rose from the ashes of a small town too!

Edit: posted link in the DU Activists forum and nominated!!!!

[EC]

43. They are looking for ideas for their next book

and have a book group for discussion... http://blog.oneamericacommittee.com/index.pl?section=bookclub

[usregimechange]

18. Sounds cool, kick

[usregimechange]

20. Who are you EC? I am guessing you are the one on the right

[EC]

44. No, but she is a very nice looking young lady,

and really nice family...

[UrbScotty]

21. John Conyers (nt)

[bleever]

23. I'll also nominate John Conyers, and also Robert Byrd.

Best wishes.

[usregimechange]

24. I Nominate passengers of the ill-fated Sultana

"People came from near and far to pay homage" to a passenger of the Titanic "while the Sultana's victims, who were veterans of war, were unheralded" (Jackson, 2003, p. 51).

[mzmolly]

25. Oprah Winfrey o'course.

;)

Tell your Mom were thinking of ~ and praying for her. :hi:

[usregimechange]

26. kick

[tblue37]

30. Congressman John Lewis.

No one ever hears about him any more, but Congressman Lewis is a hero of the Civil Rights Movement. His participation nearly cost him his life.

[ultraist]

34. Rep. Elijah Cummings , John Lewis, Maya Angelou

[usregimechange]

38. kick

[Nikki Stone 1]

39. How about Bruce Springsteen's childhood home in Freehold?

Of course I can't check with him. ;) But he is someone with a strong American resonance and conciousness. And he eventually returned home with his family instead of staying in Santa Barbara. There has to be something significant there.

Also, I second the motion for those who suggested your mom. I was so impressed by her when I saw her and heard her speak.

Nikki

[dutchdoctor]

45. Just for contrast, I'd like to see some images of the W was born into

in New Haven, Connecticut!
That should raise some eyebrows with the right wing crowd: "I thought he was a Texan!"