I showed up at Grinders at the same time the Mayor did. I gave him one look and asked his daughter, "Why is he wearing a suit?" Hardly the proper attire for meeting the Prime Minister of Funk.
So we get in and the place is great. Funk shakes a few hands, and in no time he's on stage saying, "These folks have done a lot of creative things over the years, but they probably never thought they'd ever help a big white guy get elected mayor."
But the Prime Minister is nowhere to be seen. The band plays without him.
Thenn, three songs in, Clinton arrives, hair bright red. And what's the first song? Why it's our campaign theme, "Tear the Roof off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)."
In the excitement of the moment I think to myself, It's fate, and I rush over to the Mayor and say, "You should get up on stage with him."
"No," he says to me, as sternly as he ever has.
(BTW, Clinton has the absolute best guitarist on earth. Great show!)
A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year
A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year
One of Kansas City Star's 100 Noteworthy Books of the Year
Winner of the William Rockhill Nelson Award for Nonfiction
Winner of the Harry Chapin Media Award
. . .
Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism. bad politics and abject poverty... An important, thoughtful and provocative look at race and class in America.
- The Boston Globe
Joe Miller's enthusiasm is infectious and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller.
- Entertainment Weekly
The minute I finished Joe Miller's Cross-X, I held the book out in front of me -- amazed, rapturous, and hopeful... Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath... An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book.
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Irresistible... Miller begins breezily but is soon deeply invested in the Central squad's mission to not only master the debate game on its own terms but revolutionize it with flashes of poetry and hip-hop wordplay... If all these kids could run things, Miller implies, imagine what could get done.
- Elle
3 comments:
Hey Joe... I got your comment on my blog this morning. Your spam filter must have trapped the email I sent out last week. The walk got rescheduled because too many people who wanted to do it had conflicts with the 12th. It's now going to be on May 19th. Let me know how this affects you. Thanks!
(I'm posting this here just in case your spam filter traps the reply I sent to your email a few minutes ago.)
I'm actually glad that Funk had the sense to not get on stage then. It's no longer a victory party for a campaign; he's the mayor for a whole city, and it would have been unseemly.
Yeah, me too. Hopefully that was spontaneous suggestion...urging him to get up onstage. Personally, I wouldn't mind if he did that one bit; however, I can see the headlines from beyond hell the next day.
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