Newsweek columnist Eleanor Clift likely wishes she didn’t have a reason to write her new book, Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death and Politics.
Two of her previous books were written with her late husband, Tom Brazaitis, Washington bureau chief of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The new one is Clift’s journal of Brazaitis’s last days, when he was in hospice care with cancer.
Those two weeks in 2005 coincided with Terri Schiavo’s right-to-die case in Florida; Schiavo died the day after Brazaitis did. Clift weaves back and forth between the two stories, one she was living, another she was watching.
Two days after her husband’s death, the liberal Clift returned to her panelist’s seat on The McLaughlin Group to talk about the political fallout from the Schiavo drama. Here she describes an encounter with one of her conservative counterparts on the TV shoutfest:
“Pat Buchanan upon seeing me in the Green Room before the taping offers his sympathy, saying quite memorably, ‘You took a big hit, kid.’ It was heartfelt and kind and rakish all at once, like Humphrey Bogart in the movie classic, ‘Casablanca,’ underscoring why Pat is so popular among both his ideological foes and friends.”
Other notable new books:
• NPR host Scott Simon’s new novel, Windy City, is a political tale set in his native Chicago.
• “Like, Whatever”: The Insider’s Guide to Raising Teens contains chapters on subjects from single parenting to faith to sex. Local contributors include journalists Susan Kellam and Ann Cochran, fiction writer Susan Land, and Rebecca Kahlenberg, the book’s editor.
• Georgetown author and mother Holly Morse Caldwell has written City Baby DC, a guide for new parents in the area. Based on the New York edition, it lists everything from prenatal services to play groups to kid-friendly hair salons along with advice and tips.
Eleanor Clift’s Tale of Love and Politics
Newsweek columnist Eleanor Clift likely wishes she didn’t have a reason to write her new book, Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death and Politics.
Two of her previous books were written with her late husband, Tom Brazaitis, Washington bureau chief of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The new one is Clift’s journal of Brazaitis’s last days, when he was in hospice care with cancer.
Those two weeks in 2005 coincided with Terri Schiavo’s right-to-die case in Florida; Schiavo died the day after Brazaitis did. Clift weaves back and forth between the two stories, one she was living, another she was watching.
Two days after her husband’s death, the liberal Clift returned to her panelist’s seat on The McLaughlin Group to talk about the political fallout from the Schiavo drama. Here she describes an encounter with one of her conservative counterparts on the TV shoutfest:
“Pat Buchanan upon seeing me in the Green Room before the taping offers his sympathy, saying quite memorably, ‘You took a big hit, kid.’ It was heartfelt and kind and rakish all at once, like Humphrey Bogart in the movie classic, ‘Casablanca,’ underscoring why Pat is so popular among both his ideological foes and friends.”
Other notable new books:
• NPR host Scott Simon’s new novel, Windy City, is a political tale set in his native Chicago.
• “Like, Whatever”: The Insider’s Guide to Raising Teens contains chapters on subjects from single parenting to faith to sex. Local contributors include journalists Susan Kellam and Ann Cochran, fiction writer Susan Land, and Rebecca Kahlenberg, the book’s editor.
• Georgetown author and mother Holly Morse Caldwell has written City Baby DC, a guide for new parents in the area. Based on the New York edition, it lists everything from prenatal services to play groups to kid-friendly hair salons along with advice and tips.
Most Popular in News & Politics
What It Felt Like for a Virginia Marching Band to Win Metallica’s Contest
What’s IN and OUT in DC Restaurant Trends for 2024
Introducing 8 of DC’s Most Stylish
Best of Washington 2023: Things to Eat, Drink, Do, and Know Right Now
Washingtonian Magazine
May 2024: Great Getaways
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
13 Major Concerts and Music Festivals in the DC Area This Spring
Mary Timony on Her Emotional New Album, “Untame the Tiger”
The Beatles in DC: A New Exhibit in Maryland Looks Back on Early Beatlemania
Northern Virginia High School Wins Metallica’s Marching Band Competition
More from News & Politics
Democrats and Republicans Pass Balls, Not Bills, at Congressional Soccer Game
3 New Memoirs by Prominent Women
Everything You Wanted to Know About Urban Bear Sightings but Were Afraid to Ask, Because Who Wants to Get That Close to a Bear?
Rockville Police Are Searching for Culprits of a $4,500 Pickleball Paddle Heist
Dozens of Vintage Planes Will Fly Over the National Mall This Saturday
PHOTOS: “Rupaul’s Drag Race” Queens Work It at the National Mall
Meet the NIH Detectives Cracking Medicine’s Toughest Cases
5 of DC’s Most Interesting Ideas for Revitalizing Chinatown