[applause] if you would help us by falling appears shares, the books are available at the front. Years. I am happy to sign them. Every weekend book tv offers programming focused on nonfiction authors and books. Keep watching for more here on cspan2. And watch any of our past programs online and booktv. Org. Sylvia dudes morris recalls the life of a conservative commentator. Her a election to congress, her tenure as ambassador to italy, and a political and personal life. His program lasts about an hour. Sylvia jukes morris recounts the life of the late conservative commentator and congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce. The author reports on lucs tenure as board to italy and her political and personal life. This program lasts about an hour. [inaudible conversations] i am the senior director of programs and chief operating officer here at roosevelt house, and it is my great pleasure to welcomeou here to it is my great pleasure to welcome you here to tonights very special discussion of price of
Congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce. The author reports on lucs tenure as board to italy and her political and personal life. This program lasts about an hour. [inaudible conversations] i am the senior director of programs and chief operating officer here at roosevelt house, and it is my great pleasure to welcome you here to tonights very special discussion of price of fame the honorable Clare Boothe Luce, by sylvia jukes morris. Price of fame is the second in a twovolume biography of ms. Luce. The first volume was published 17 years ago, and as the wall street journal has written, both books are really models of a biographers art, meticulously researched, sophisticated, fairminded and compulsively readable. Now, we are, of course, gathered for tonights discussion here in the former home of franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt where i think it is probably safe to assume that Clare Boothe Luce was not a regular social visitor. [laughter] mrs. Luces relationship with the roosevelts was, one might
Was from an 18th century english poet. It was an ode, and the last two lines were, a rage for fame attends both great and small; better be damned than not be named at all. and i realized that from a small girl, she had realized she wanted to be famous. So i thought that rage for fame is just a perfect title because her whole life after that was to that end. Cspan when was this picture taken . Guest that picture was taken about 1942, just after shed been elected to congress by the famous canadian photographer koschjoseph kosch. Cspan how old was she here . Guest she was only about 39. Cspan and how long did she serve in congress . Guest she served in congress for two termsfour years altogether. Cspan when did you first meet her . Guest i first met her in the fall of 1980 at her house in washington, but it was really a strange meeting because i had already conceived the idea of doing a biography of her. When ijust out of the blue, this invitation came from a hostess in washington, and i
Careers in multiple fields, politics journalism and diplomacy. She may have disagreed with much of mrs. Roosevelts philosophy, but as early as 1948 she was recommending that truman ask her to be his running mate. And for her part Eleanor Roosevelt publicly praised her appointment as ambassador to italy writing that mrs. Luce would be an able ambassador who will represent us well. Price of fame goes into fascinating detail about luces relationships not only with the roosevelts, but with so many of the great figures of the 20th century from eisenhower to several churchills to jfk and of course her stormy marriage to henry luce. And so does morris herself in a wonderful account of how she became to be Clare Boothe Luces biographer the only one to have access to her public and private papers. And so it is really a great privilege to have Sylvia Morris with us here tonight. Born in england, she taught English Literature before moving to the United States in 1968 with her husband the writer