‘DRY PANTS RULE THE WORLD’
Former central NY mayor to sign book at Wheatfields
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.» John Sullivan wasn’t sure what to name his memoir at first, but he envisions anyone could pick it up, especially anyone from the baby-boomer generation. Sullivan decided on the name “Pee Not Your Pants!” for a rather specific reason: In kindergarten at St. Mary’s in Oswego, the children sat in tables instead of desks. The room featured four different colored tables, each representing a different social class, or at least that’s how the children in Sister Santa Clause’s decided to establish a pecking order. The red was considered the best while the orange was considered the worst.
“For me, I always wanted to sit at the red table,” said Sullivan. “Not only at the red table but the first seat at the red table because if you’re at the red table you’re the bees knees, but if you’re at the first seat you’re the king of the prom sitting across the queen of the hop.”
Sullivan sat in the first seat until one day he peed his pants. His teacher, Sister Santa Clause, made him sit behind the piano and then eventually at the orange table with the children who wore smelly clothes.
“I said thank you, I think, Sister Santa Clause for teaching me one of life’s very valuable lessons and that is, pee not your pants,” said Sullivan. “And I haven’t in the 65 years since. Pee not your pants because it’s dry pants people who rule the world. I thought ‘now there’s a theme.’”
On Thursday night, Sullivan will sign copies of the memoir at Wheatfields on Broadway from 5-7 p.m. The memoir details his time as mayor in Oswego, cochairing the state’s Democratic party with stories of president Bill Clinton and former New York State Senator Hillary Clinton and other political endeavors Sullivan experienced.
“In addition to this being an anecdotal, political book,” said Sullivan, “it’s a love story, too.”
Sullivan dedicates a chapter of the book to his Charlotte.
“She always said that if she had written a book first she was going to call it ‘Move Over, Erma’ for Erma Bombeck. My wife had a great sense of humor. But then she changed her mind,” said Sullivan. “She said it’s going to be ‘A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.’”
Sullivan served as mayor of Oswego from 1987 until 1991.
“When I was mayor, my wife became the leading charge person for the establishment of Oswego Harbor Fest. It’s a big summer festival in Oswego. We have the Grucci fireworks over the harbor, over the lighthouse down to the music. It’s spectacular,” said Sullivan. “It’s the most elaborate fireworks display anywhere in Upstate New York, and that festival we started in 1988 and it still goes on today. And it draws over 100,000 people to Oswego so it’s a big deal.”
About 10 years after Charlotte began Oswego Harborfest, she grew sick.
She was diagnosed with liver cancer in a Boston hospital.
“[The doctors said] ‘we have good news and bad news. The bad news is your wife has a terminal form of cancer. But we could put a stent in her liver and that will relieve the pressure.’ She was all bloated, so they did,” said Sullivan. “And God she recuperated in two weeks and looked like a million bucks. She looked like a movie star.”
She kept fighting. Sullivan said she went on for two years even though the doctors said she had two months.
“It’s an incredible story of strength and determination on her part. I mean I would have pulled the covers up over my head. Not her. Everyday she went out, every day she was smiling. Every day she became an inspiration to everyone in the community,” said Sullivan. “If you ever go to Oswego and mention her name, people will go on and on.”
Sullivan found influence in the late Tim Russert while writing the memoir.
“I read ‘Big Russ & Me’ several times, so I kind of took that approach in writing this book,” said Sullivan. “It’s kind of like come on, hop in the car and I’m going to tell stories along the way. I’m not advocating a political position, which I often do. It’s non-political in that sense, but it’s a series of stories how I got into politics.”
Sullivan has other book signings in Oswego and Watertown next week.
“I want to make you smile, maybe bring a tear to your eye and reach out and grab people and hopefully the book does that,” said Sullivan.