Subject: Re: back home
Date: Sun, 21 Jul 1996 22:48:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Sally Greene <sg5p@faraday.clas.virginia.edu>
To: Sarah Greene <Gilmer@dal.cleaf.com>

Momma,

We had a nice trip to D.C.  It rained Friday but by Saturay was clear and
not too terribly hot.  The book club meeting was lots of fun and it was
nice to see a lot of those people (and at church this morning) who I
hadn't seen in almost 10 years.  They're a really interesting and I'd have
to say cohesive community, sustaining themselves against the wildness of
Washington. At Wayne's house--he has a swimming pool that is a kind of
center for the block community in his neighborhood--I picked up some
interesting Washington gossip on the Primary Colors story.  Talked to a
woman who has been at AP for a long time and is about to move to another
job; her husband used to work at Newsweek and now works for the Front Line
TV show.  I said I couldn't believe that some people were actually really
mad a Klein for being so coy.  She said she thought the same thing at
first till she got to listening to other journalists.  She said that she
understands their sense of betrayal but that she realizes that it's a
peculiarly Washington thing and deserves to look silly to anybody not
inside it.  These other journalists, as you know, whipped Washington up
into a frenzy over the mystery of who wrote Primary Colors; since none of
them really knew, although it was one of their own, they felt as if they'd
been made fools of.  But it's still kind of beyond me, and as to Klein, he
does have $6 million now.  So he probably can get by without that job at
CBS.

We took Tucker by the Lincoln Memorial (even found parking) on our way out
of town, to show him the statue that in his Goodnight Opus book gets up
and jumps in the reflecting pool.  Do you remember that part of the book
you gave him?  Tucker was impressed.  But the monument is not so
impressive these days because they're doing restoration work and there are
chain link fences all around.

The message from Russ did get here--why would it not, since he wrote it
from your address?  So we are marking our calendars.  Even I know the
route to Dulles by now.  It isn't hard, takes nearly all of two hours.

Phil Dyer was in my class--probably not thought of by me since graduation.
Glad he has nice flowers.

I haven't gotten my Newport pictures developed yet, but will soon.

Oh it turns out (there was a man at the book club who just read a bio of
Lincoln) that the historical novel I read really was very close to true.
There was a Yankee Major and his fiancee in the booth with them and he did
get sliced up the arm.  Now I'm even more impressed with this novel
(*Henry and Clara*).

Next, I'll try to get to *Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.*

Glad you found the *post* site.  It is addictive, isn't it.

Oh Tucker had a great time too, for the most part.  Impressed people at
the book club (he and Paul stayed for the potluck and then went back to
Wayne's while we did the meeting).  Went up to nearly everyone and said
his now standard opening line:  I"m Tucker, I'm a boy, and I have long
hair like my Dad.  One person remarked that he was 3, going on 21.  He
even got in the swimming pool (barely).  But I'll let Paul tell you that
adventure.