Dallas was definitely full of “bushes” last Monday. They flew in from Florida, Houston and the outer limits for “A Celebration of Reading.” Why? When Barbara Bush puts on an event for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, the grandkids come a-running. For a brief few hours, Dallasites felt like they were part of a Bush family reunion.
But let’s start at the beginning. No, we already did that with Mandi Bush. Let’s start at noontime.
Locals/authors/former Firsties Laura and George Bush had three generations of Bushes (pictured) plus the evening’s authors in for lunch at their place on Daria. NBC’s Today correspondent Jenna looked svelte. (Gee, don’t they feed gals in NYC?). Mandi was catching the rest up on George P.’s whereabouts (he’s overseas for active duty).
Wimpy Kid‘s author Jeff Kinney (pictured third from the right with, from the left, Donovan Campbell, Laura Bush, George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush, George W. Bush, Leila Meacham and Condoleezza Rice) was sorta overwhelmed: “Here I am eating at the Bushes with Barbara Bush!”
After a brief rest in the afternoon, they headed to an evening of Super Duper Boldfacers at the Meyerson. At a pre-event reception it was a jamfest with Neil Bush and his family feeling right at home with the locals. Over to the side Papa George (aka #41) was seated with Kroger’s Gary Huddleston and adorable wife Becky chatting about Houston-based Pete Roussel, who was on #41’s staff from GHWB’s days as a congressman to the White House. . . Mandi was looking terrific as usual and managed to sub in nicely for her husband George P. The girl has never met a stranger! . . Kids in the crowd were torn between checking with Wimpy author Jeff (“I feel lucky to have had any success in publishing at all”) and having their picture taken with Barbara, who is the picture-perfect grandest mom. . . If you think Barbara is a traditionalist reader, rethink that one. She enjoys her iPad as much as hardbound books. . . In the meantime, Bush grandkids were all over the place making everyone feel like they were a member of the Bush clan. Newlyweds Sandra and Jebby Bush told how they knew each other for three years but didn’t start dating until two years ago. The reason: Sandra was living in London. The twosome got hitched this past May. . . Ruth and Ken Altshuler found a table in the back of the room with Ken Cooper.
Then seamlessly it was noted that the Bush munchkins quietly headed to the door at the far end of the room, while elder Bushes exited the opposite side of the room. Someone said, “George seems to be slowing down a bit,” noting the cane. A female guest retorted, “That may be true for his walking, but he is still a great hugger and the twinkle in his eye is brighter than ever.”
As the 1,400 found their seats in the Meyerson’s concert hall, Celebration of Reading veterans advised first-timers that they were in for an evening of inspiration, fun and possibly a surprise or two.
(Editor’s note: If you wonder why only 1,400 attended the event when the Meyerson can easily handle 2,062, it’s because the Bushes insist that all have a “light supper” afterwards and the Meyerson can only accommodate 1,400 at the seated dinner.)
The event started right on time at 7 p.m. with #41 being escorted on stage by Mandi. Telling the crowd how the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy had grown, he added, “. . . talk about ‘Mission Creep,’ this is it!” (For you non-politicos, it was a clever reference to #41’s days as president when he explained he didn’t take out Saddam because he didn’t believe in “mission creep.” The twinkle in his eye could be seen from the back of the Meyerson.)
Then a video of a first: “A Celebration of Reading” at sea. It seems that former First Daughter/Sister Doro Bush Koch arranged to have the celebration held on board the USS George H. W. Bush CVN77 on May 1, 2010, with authors like Antwone Fisher, James Bradley and Jill Conner Brown.
Immediately following the video, first lady of the evening Barbara Bush entered the stage to a standing ovation. She told the crowd that she didn’t realize until recently that “A Celebration of Reading” was on Facebook (“Betty White has beaten me to it”). On a more serious note, she reported that the foundation had raised $37 million and had assisted 850 literacy programs throughout the country.
As an example of the program’s effort, Barbara introduced “inspirational reader” Susie Marsh (pictured left with, from the left, Barbara Bush and Susie’s program instructor Melody Barnes), who at the age of 58 returned to school to get her high school diploma. Thanks to the Richardson ISD Family Learning Program, she is not only on her way to getting her GED but she and her 6-year old grandson read to each other.
As Susie hugged Barbara, she may not have noticed that she received a standing ovation from the crowd including Condoleezza, Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones and Nancy and Peter Beck on the front row.
Then everyone settled back for the authors to take their turn at the podium. Introducing each were a different set of Bush grandkids. Jeff said that he was the author who would provide levity, and he did just that. Ending his talk he admitted that when his publisher suggested that he launch his newest Wimpy Kid book on Tuesday, he didn’t realize that #43 would be launching his on the same day. Jeff suggested that for the cost of #43’s book you could get two Wimpy Kid books plus a cup of Starbucks.
Next was Condoleezza Rice. Before reading an excerpt from her Extraordinary, Ordinary People, she told how her mother had been a teacher for Willie Mays. Having grown up in the hotbox of Birmingham, Ala., during the racially turbulent 1950’s and 1960’s, Condoleezza recalled the day of the bombing of the nearby 16th Street Baptist Church. She also told how her mother advised her daughter, “You might not be able to have a hamburger at Woolworth’s, but you could be president of the United States.”
Following Condoleezza was Roses author Leila Meacham, whose marvelous southern accent gilded the reading of the book that she undertook at the age of 65. Five years later Grand Central Publishing released Roses and it became a New York Times bestseller. Think of it as a Texas version of Gone With The Wind covering a century of three generations in the Lone Star state.
At 7:54 Dallas native son Donovan Campbell took the stage and the audience with him. Before launching into Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, he took time out to address his father, who was in the audience. With a tear in his eye and a smile on his lips, the son congratulated his father for celebrating his “49th birthday for the 11th time.” Donovan had the entire audience in the palm of his hand as he described his platoon and their facing “some of the bloodiest battles of the war in Iraq.”
While following Donovan might have been considered nearly impossible, former First Lady Laura Bush took on the challenge with grace and style, reading an excerpt from Spoken From the Heart. While always so proper, Laura provided genuine insight to her being courted by George W. Bush (aka #43). Their whirlwind dating/engagement was the talk of West Texas that the “most eligible bachelor in Midland” is marrying “the old maid of Midland.”
Then she introduced “a special surprise guest” — #43. Welcoming the former president with another standing ovation and cheers, the 1,400 got a sneak preview of the next day’s official launch of his book Decision Points, including:
- Teasing his mother about the “Celebration” — “Mother, I’m glad you did something constructive.”
- “If you sense shock tomorrow when this book comes out, it’s because, believe it or not, there are some people in our country who do not think I can read much less write.”
- On his reason for writing the book — “My goals in writing this book are two-fold. First I hope to paint a picture of what it was like to serve as president for eight consequential years. I believe it will be impossible to reach definitive conclusions about my presidency or any recent presidency for that matter for several decades. The passage of time allows passions to cool, results to clarify and scholars to compare different approaches. My hope is that this book will serve as a resource for anyone studying this period in American history. Second, I write to give readers a perspective on decision-making in a complex environment. Many of the decisions that reach the president’s desk are tough calls with strong arguments on both sides. Throughout the book I describe the options I weighed and the principles I followed. I hope this will give you a better sense of why I made the decisions I did.”
- “I never had to search for a role model. I was the son of George Bush.”
- On Barbara teaching her little boy French as she drove him through the desert to the orthodontist in Big Spring: “If only Jacques Chirac could have seen me then.”
Following his talk, #43 took a seat on the front row and joined the rest of the audience in hearing the 80 members of the Children’s Chorus of Dallas beautifully perform “God Bless America,” “America the Beautiful” and “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Like any proper hostess, Barbara thanked all for coming, saying, “I bet you’re a little ‘bushed’ tonight.” Then she invited the 1,400 to a light supper.
As guests found their tables, some noted that a certain area of the lobby looked like a convention of Don Draper hunks. It turned out that when you have two former presidents and two former first ladies, you end up with four teams of Secret Service members. One matron asked her table partner, “Do you have to be good-looking to be on the Secret Service?”
As Barbara chatted with Peter Beck (pictured right with Barbara Bush) and #41 joined Dee and Charles Wyly at their table, guests not only found a perfect dinner but gift bags with two books plus a copy of the winning essays from the writing contest at Peak Preparatory. (If you’d like to see the essays, follow the jump. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy has provided the winning copies.)
On the other hand, the younger first couple made an exit signing books (George W. Bush pictured) as they left. After all, #41 had to rise early the next morning for a book signing at Borders, where people were already lining up to meet Barbara’s oldest boy.
The question presented to Peak Preparatory students by Mrs. Barbara Bush was: What did you learn from this story (“Miss Nelson is Missing!”)? Have you ever had to learn a hard lesson about “the golden rule” – do unto others as you would have them do unto you?
A winner was chosen from grades third, fourth and fifth. The following are the winning essays.
3rd Grade Winner: Nicolas Vega for his “Lessons Learned”
The lesson I learned from the book Miss Nelson is Missing! was to respect everyone in the class. You need to respect everyone on the earth. We need to respect the animals too.
One time my brother and I were at our house. I started to fight with my brother because he didn’t let me play with him. I got grounded for one week and I couldn’t play my game. I learned a lesson not to fight with my brother. Fighting will never lead to anything good. You should always treat others like you want to be treated.”
4th Grade Winner: Maria Rodriguez for her “The Golden Rule”
“Oh my gosh,” my sister exclaimed. Be quiet you’re so embarrassing Maria. I was little and was telling my sister’s best friend embarrassing stuff about my sister. I got in trouble and learned to treat others how I want to be treated. Now when people are mean to me I just ignore them or walk away.
I learned that if you don’t like what you have you may not have it anymore. Don’t be mean to someone else because they might have nothing to do with it. When other people are mean to you don’t be mean back, talk it out. When you respect others they will respect you and won’t hurt you. I also learned that if you’re mean to somebody, they’re going to be mean to you and get meaner. I hope my other classmates learned as much as I did. I loved the book Miss Nelson is Missing!. I wonder where Miss Nelson will go next? Can Miss Nelson visit our school one day?
5th Grade Winner: Giovanni Rivas for Miss Nelson is Missing! essay
Whoa! Miss Nelson is Missing! taught me several things. Treat others how you want to be treated. As soon as you find out you are treating someone wrong, fix it. For example, taking something without asking is bad. To teach you a lesson they might take something from you. Learn the easy way not the hard way, trust me I say this from experience.
That brings be back to fourth grade. I don’t know why but I swooped a kids pencil like an eagle. I just broke it. I meant to be playing but he took it the wrong way. Later into that sunny day little highlighter pieces fell in front of me, they looked like cookie crumbs. The worst part was that it was my favorite highlighter. From then on I always treat people how I want to be treated. Never again will I treat someone like a bed servant. I will always respect the golden rule, scouts honor!
Cecile Harton says
I personally know Susie Marsh and I know that one day she will get her GED. She is working hard in class and Melody Barnes, her teacher, will make sure she knows the material for her to pass.