Friday, September 30, 2011

Oct. 16 launch party press release...

PUBLIC INVITED TO LAUNCH PARTY FOR PELL BIOGRAPHY

Sept. 30, 2011
For immediate release

NEWPORT, R.I. -- The public is invited to join Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, members of the Claiborne Pell family, and author G. Wayne Miller for the 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, launch party marking the release of Miller’s

AN UNCOMMON MAN: The Life and Times of Senator Claiborne Pell, the authorized biography of the late six-term U.S. senator.

The event will be held at Salve Regina University’s Pell Center, 518 Bellevue Ave., Newport, 02840.

In addition to Reed and Whitehouse, whose political careers were greatly influenced by Pell, speakers will include Salve President Sr. Jane Gerety, Salve Chancellor Sr. M. Therese Antone, and two Pell grandchildren: Nick and Clay Pell. Miller will read from the book and sign copies. Newly named Pell Center executive director James Ludes will host.

Published by the University Press of New England, AN UNCOMMON MAN is the first biography of the creator of the Pell Grants college assistance program and the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities. A longtime advocate of global peace who was instrumental in several treaties and an early opponent of the Vietnam War, Pell was also known for his visionary ideas -- and quirky personality. He served six terms in the Senate, longest of any Rhode Islander, from 1961 to 1997, never losing an election. Miller wrote the book with exclusive access to family archives and the Pell Collection at the University of Rhode Island, among other sources.

A staff writer at The Providence Journal, Miller is the author of seven previous books and is also a documentary filmmaker. His most recent film, 2010’s BEHIND THE HEDGEROW: Eileen Slocum and the Meaning of Newport Society, which he wrote and co-produced, has been broadcast on PBS and enjoyed several theatrical runs at Newport’s Jane Pickens Theater.

The Oct. 16 event will run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Refreshments will be served. For this one event only, copies of AN UNCOMMON MAN will be sold at a 30-percent discount off cover price. Official publication date of the hardcover is Oct. 11.
The Kindle edition is already available.

More on the book at www.pellbook.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Claiborne-Pell-biography/155042620179

Press inquiries: pellbook@gmail.com

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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Nice words in Phoenix interview!

David Scharfenberg, editor of The Providence Phoenix, had some very nice things to say in introducing an interview with me about my soon-to-be-released new book, AN UNCOMMON MAN: The Life and Times of Senator Claiborne Pell. And let me return the compliment: David, whose own fine writing I got to observe when he was on the staff of The Providence Journal, has done a superb job at the helm of his fine weekly, which I have been reading forever. Thanks, David!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Available now on Kindle!

The hard copy release is still on the horizon, but Amazon has released the Kindle version of the book. You can read it now! Details at the Amazon Uncommon Man site.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Books in hand!

Pre-sale copies of AN UNCOMMON MAN: The Life and Times of Senator Claiborne Pell, my eighth book, seventh non-fiction, arrived at my home and I am delighted. University Press of New England did a fabulous job! After inscribing one to Yolanda, to whom the book is dedicated, I brought copies to Nuala Pell, who was similarly pleased. Nula and many other Pells, along with Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and lots of other folks, political and otherwise, will be joining me 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, at Salve Regina University's Pell Center for the book release party. Please join us. Books are expected to go on sale, through Amazon and in bookstores, about the end of September.