I received this from my friend, Mary Doria Russell who wrote "Thread of Grace" commenting on Rick Santorum's treatment of two young women who tried to attend his book signing. She gave me permission to post her comments here.
Mz Pip :dem:
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Fellow fans of the U.S. Constitution:
When I began a 21-city book tour to support A Thread of Grace, I was prepared to deal with Holocaust deniers and anti-Semitic skinhead nutjobs who might show up at bookstores to harass me. I figured I could do that without an armed guard, but evidently Senator Rick Santorum isn't as confident that he can handle folks exercising their constitutional rights to free speech and freedom of assembly.
The Republican from Pennsylvania has written a book called It Takes a Family, which outlines his beliefs that women shouldn't work outside the home, that the government should discourage birth control, and that gay marriage will inevitably lead to the legalization of polygamy and bestiality. Evidently Senator Santorum anticipated that his ideas would spark controversy.
For his August 10, 2005 visit to the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Concord Mall (4801 Concord Pike, Wilmingtom DE 19808), Santorum had Delaware State Police Sgt. Michael DiJiacomo to protect him -- not from skinheads, anti-Semites, and Holocaust deniers -- but from two teenage girls. Although he was off-duty and privately employed by Senator Santorum, Sgt. DiJiacomo was in his state trooper's uniform.
I know one of the girls personally. Miriam Rocek is the daughter of old friends of mine, Dr. Tom Rocek and Dr. Karen Rosenberg -- married, by the way, to each other for 30 heterosexual years without benefit of a constitutional amendment forbidding gay marriage.
The Barnes and Noble event was billed as a book signing and discussion, but the girls were told to leave by "Santorum's private security detail." When they said they hadn't done anything wrong, Sgt. DiJiacomo told them they were under arrest, and took them outside. There, he made them stand for frisking, and while he didn't actually arrest them, he told them they were "banned" from the Barnes and Noble and from Concord mall.
Barnes and Noble's Amanda Winnington, the community relations manager for the store, confirmed that the girls were asked to leave because "Rick Santorum's security team felt they were going to be a security threat." She also confirmed that only customers who had a receipt for Santorum's book were allowed to come near him.
After 5 book tours, I can tell you that nobody is required to buy my books before they dare to approach me. I talk to anyone who cares to listen, and I hope that my presentation persuades them that reading my books will be worth their money and their time.
I am not terribly surprised that Senator Santorum feels his ideas are so indefensible, he needs armed guards to protect him from those whose opinions differ from his own. Bullies always seem to need a group of enforcers to back them up. However, I was amazed that the staff of Barnes and Noble failed to stand up for the rights of their customers, and ALL United States citizens, to assemble at a public event in a public place and ask questions of a public servant who was there to hawk his book like any other author.
This morning, I spoke to the manager of the Delaware store, and she says that the store staff was taken by surprise and deferred to the senator's security team. I pointed out that if Senator Santorum did not wish to be in a public place with other U.S. citizens exercising their constitutional rights, the senator should have been told he could leave. According to the manager, the incident has been discussed within the store, and their district manager has now given instructions that the store staff is never to cede its authority to conduct business in a perfectly legal manner to anyone -- not even pushy off-duty cops in the employ of an author, regardless of that author's day job.
You've got lots of choices for where to buy your books, and I hope you'll take this into account when you decide which bookstore to patronize. I believe B&N owes Miriam Rocek and the other girls an apology, and should formally bring its policies regarding signings into compliance with the U.S. Constitution.
Mary Doria Russell
P.S. If you would like to express your opinions about this incident, feel free to contact:
Barnes and Noble Corporate Headquarters
122 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
They don't have an email address, probably to cut down on mail like I hope you'll send.
To read the news article about the Santorum event, go to:
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005508140325
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