Iconic White House reporter Helen Thomas will speak at Mills College in Oakland on Oct. 12 with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland.

Thomas is promoting her new book, “Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President To Know and Do.”

The free event is open to the public. Here are the details per the college’s press release:

Helen Thomas, the dean of the White House press corps will join Congresswoman and Mills College alumna Barbara Lee (Class of 1973) on Oct. 12 in a conversation to discuss Thomas’ 60 years of covering presidential politics. All members of the public are invited to this free event from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Littlefield Concert Hall at Mills College.
In her latest book, “Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do” (Scribner, 2009), Thomas and her co-author Craig Crawford, offer their observations of the most powerful role in the country and advice to presidents and the public who vote for them.
Gleamed from her years of covering John F. Kennedy’s presidency to the current Obama administration, longer than any journalist working today, Thomas has collected valuable lessons to impart to future presidents. Part history and part practical advice with examples from the first presidency through the forty-fourth, the book reveals the qualities, attitudes, and political and personal choices that make for the most successful leaders.
“Why not share what we think with all future presidents, and in the process help voters understand a little more about what to look for when picking someone for the most powerful and challenging job in the world?” Thomas said.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) is chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus. Lee’s political experience began in Oakland in the early 1970s when she was president of the Mills’ Black Student Union and campaigned for Shirley St. Hill Chisholm, who became the first African American woman elected to Congress in 1968. Chisholm also ran for president in 1972.
The Barbara Lee Distinguished Chair in Women’s Leadership at Mills College, an endowed teaching position, was established in her honor for her leadership in human rights and social justice. Lee studied psychology at Mills College and has a master of social work from UC Berkeley. Mills awarded her an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1999.
Copies of Thomas’ book and Lee’s book, “Renegade for Peace and Justice,” will be available for purchase and signing following the presentation.
Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering a dynamic progressive education that fosters leadership, social responsibility, and creativity to approximately 950 undergraduate women and 550 graduate women and men. Since 2000, applications to Mills College have more than doubled. The College is named one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report, and ranks as one of the Best 371 Colleges by the Princeton Review. Forbes.com ranked Mills 55th among America’s best colleges and named it a “Top Ten: Best of the All-Women’s Colleges.” Visit us at www.mills.edu.

Sometimes an interesting new public-policy title crosses my desk, and from now on I’ll be making more of an effort to share them with you…

“The Road to Yucca Mountain: The Development of Radioactive Waste Policy in the United States,” by J. Samuel Walker (University of California Press, $34.95) – Walker, the historian of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, chronicles the technical, environmental and political problems with storing the byproducts of nuclear energy. Some of it’s pretty technical, but it’s worth wading through his account of the underlying science, the newest research and the politics and policy behind the issue.

“Dispatches from Juvenile Hall: Fixing a Failing System,” by John Aarons, Lisa Smith and Linda Wagner (Penguin Books, $15) – The authors, all with the Lane County, Ore., Department of Youth Services, delve into how “tough on crime” just doesn’t cut it when it comes to juvenile justice. Some of the real stories are harrowing, and their suggestions for a mix of punitive action, rehabilitation and family intervention is a good template for discussion of reform.

“Louis D. Brandeis: A Life,” by Melvin I. Urofsky (Pantheon, $40) – Urofsky, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor of law and public policy and professor emeritus of history, offers up 756 pages (not counting 142 more of notes and citations!) on progressive reformer and crusading attorney turned U.S. Supreme Court justice. It might be a tad heavy for the casual reader, but it’s a well-written and detailed (definitive?) account of the man who perhaps did more than anyone else in developing the right to privacy and mounted key defenses of the freedom of speech.

The Rockridge Institute, a Berekely based progressive think-tank formed to combat its better funded conservative counterparts, is closing its doors due to lack of money.

The institute was founded by UC Berkeley linguist professor and author George Lakoff, who gained fame after Democrats tapped into his “framing” concept in the book, “Don’t Think of An Elephant.” Framing is the study of how individual worldview affects thought.

Here’s what the institute sent out this morning in an e-mail announcement:
Read the rest of this entry »

Journalist Marc Sandalow, author of “Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi’s Life, Times and Rise to Power,” will hold a book-signing on April 17 at Saint Mary’s College Bookstore.

Sandalow, the former Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the San Francisco Chronicle, has written about how Pelosi rose in political influence to become the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The book-signing will be held from 4-5:30 p.m., at Saint Mary’s Bookstore, 1928 St. Mary’s Road in Moraga.

You just can’t make this stuff up.

A press release showed up in my email this morning from the publisher of the New York Times bestseller series, “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series.

The publisher is looking for heart-warming stories about politics for use in its upcoming “Chicken Soup” for the souls of Democrats and Republicans. It will come out in July just before the two party’s national political conventions in late summer.

Heart-warming political stories? But I’m not the warm and fuzzy type so don’t rely on my opinion.

On the other hand, the publisher will pay $200 for a winning submission. Money warms the heart, doesn’t it?

Here are the details from the press release in case you are just dying to share your political story with the world:

Do you have an insightful, funny or powerfully moving story that puts a personal face on the political process? HCI Books, the publisher of the New York Times bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series, are currently seeking stories to include in two new books being released just in time for the National Conventions: Republican’s Soul/Democrat’s Soul.

As our country embarks on the most exciting and important presidential election of the last hundred years, we are inviting you to share your experiences, the lessons you’ve learned, and the personal growth you’ve achieved through the political process.

We will be featuring political history peppered with interesting facts and entertaining foibles. Contributions will include funny, nostalgic, and thought-provoking stories about the ins and outs of being politically-active citizens.

If you have a great true story that reveals the incredible experiences and feelings you’ve enjoyed while being part of our democratic process and would like to be included, please send your stories to directly to us no later than March 15, 2008.

Please visit whichever web site you are interested in www.republicansoul.com or www.democratsoul.com for story themes, and guidelines (including compensation, rights and maximum word count).

Stories may also be or e-mailed to story@democratsoul.com or story@republicansoul.com or mailed to Political Soul, Attn: A. Gold, 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442