of all the people you learned about, who would you not want to meet because of what you learned about them? i can t think of one. i ll tell you why. this book was different for me in form than anything i ve ever done because if you are writing a biography or writing the history of an event or an accomplishment, there is a certain obvious track, a certain structure that s built into the subject. and you re obligated to respect that and cover it, write about it, in all fairness to your reader. the cast of characters is already ordained. with this book, i could cast the book myself. i would pick the people that i wanted to write about. it probably 12 major characters in this book. probably 20-some people overall who appear, americans. but that s a fraction of the number that went to paris during this 70-year period that i m covering. so in organizing the book, organizing my approach to the subject, i was in many ways like a casting director. they would come in, show me what th
weather for us. it is kind of a yes and no answer. the first round of heavy rain is over for sure. still have more scattered showers trying to bubble up in what is still a fairly warm and humid atmosphere behind this line of stronger thunderstorms that has now moved through the area. you can see all the active warnings are out on the eastern shore of maryland into the great state of delaware. still have a severe thunderstorm watch which means the conditions remain a little bit favorable for more severe weather between now and 8:00 this evening. i ll put the radar in motion and you can get a sense they are rolling to the east at about 30 miles an hour. another storm here, no lightning with that cell just yet but it may continue to intensify over the next little while. here s our future scan looking forward the next two hours. that thunderstorm out of northern fauquier county about 5:50. the strongest of the storms are over. we re a rain-cooled 79 here in washington. already