Kerry, former secretary of state, writing memoir

Dan Rather penning book on patriotism

NEW YORK, March 11, (AP): John Kerry, the former secretary of state, US senator and presidential candidate, has a book deal.

Kerry, 73, has signed with Simon & Schuster, the publisher told The Associated Press on Thursday. The book, a memoir covering his life from childhood through his recent time as secretary of state, does not yet have a title or release date.

“This is the first opportunity I’ve had in a long time to pause and look back, with an eye toward looking forward. I hope we can produce a good book that captures for readers not so much my story, but some of the lessons learned along the way, including lessons learned the hard way,” Kerry said in a statement.

“I am grateful that Simon & Schuster is working with me to revisit meaningful moments lived at the intersection of history, and to help readers get to know some of the compelling people I’ve known, learned from, admired, and even debated with across my years.”

Kerry has been a public figure since the early 1970s. He was a decorated veteran who emerged as a spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War organization and denounced the conflict during Senate hearings, famously stating “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”

The Massachusetts Democrat later served nearly 30 years in the Senate, with colleagues ranging from Ted Kennedy to Barack Obama, and had an unsuccessful run for president in 2004, losing to incumbent George W. Bush. He was secretary of state during President Obama’s second term, with highlights including a global pact on climate change — the Paris Agreement — and a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program. Both agreements have been strongly questioned by President Donald Trump.

Experience

Kerry’s previous books include “The New War: The Web of Crime That Threatens America’s Security” and he cooperated with biographer Douglas Brinkley on a book about his Vietnam experience, “Tour of Duty.” But he has never written a full-length memoir or discussed in depth his presidential run, when he was subjected to a conservative “swift boating” campaign that challenged his war record. He served in the Senate from 1985 to 2013, when he succeeded Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

“This is a great American life, and what’s exciting about John Kerry’s memoir is that he’s finally got the time and perspective to tell the full story, in all of its sweep,” Jonathan Karp, publisher of Simon & Schuster, said in a statement.

Kerry met with several publishers about the book, for which financial terms were not disclosed. He was represented by Robert Barnett, the Washington attorney who recently worked on book deals for Clinton and for Barack and Michelle Obama.

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Dan Rather, the former CBS anchor who has become a prominent voice against President Donald Trump, is working on a book about patriotism.

Rather’s “What Unites Us” will be published Nov 7 by Algonquin Books, the publisher told The Associated Press on Thursday. The book is a collection of essays about topics ranging from civil rights to schools and libraries and what it means to be an American. Rather’s previous works include the memoirs “Rather Outspoken” and “I Remember.”

In a statement issued through Algonquin, Rather said that during a time “anxiety and crisis,” he wanted to explore the country’s ideals and how best to achieve them. The 85-year-old Rather has developed a wide following on social media, with nearly 2 million “likes” on his Facebook page, on which he writes often about Trump and current events.

On Thursday, he shared thoughts on his upcoming book.

“While much of my writing on this page has been tied to the daily (or even minute by minute) news cycle, for this book I have tried to step back for a wider perspective. I want to share my sense of the basic tenets that I see as the foundation of the country I hold so dear,” he wrote. “It is patriotism, as I define it, not as a divisive cudgel but a common purpose. It is also a patriotism that will not ignore the sins of our nation, but challenge them honestly and head on.”

SEATTLE:

Also:

A joke book “written” by a conservative author and filled with blank pages in a dig at Democrats is the top selling book on Amazon.

“Reasons to Vote for Democrats: A Comprehensive Guide” consists of 266 pages. It has a table of contents, chapters and a bibliography, but no words on the pages other than the book and chapter titles. It’s billed in the description as “a political treatise sure to stand the test of time.”

As of Friday morning, it was Amazon’s best-selling book. The paperback is available for about $8.

Author Michael J. Knowles tells Fox News that when he took a look at the Democrats’ “record and reasons to vote for them,” he thought “it was probably best to just leave all the pages blank.”

NEW YORK:

Isabel Allende’s next novel is a love story set in Brooklyn and South America about a human rights scholar and an immigrant from Guatemala.

The novel is called “In the Midst of Winter,” although it is scheduled to come this fall, Atria Books told The Associated Press on Friday. According to Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, the book begins with a snowstorm and chance meeting in Brooklyn and flashes back to Chile and Brazil in the 1970s.

Allende, a Chilean-American, is one of the world’s most popular novelists. Sales for her work top 65 million copies. Her best-sellers include “The House of the Spirits,” “Eva Luna” and “Daughter of Fortune.”