Two local authors to participate in Agoura Hills Reads program




 

 

Jim Bendat

This year’s One City/One Book—Agoura Hills Reads program has chosen politics and the United States presidency as a topic.

The monthlong event kicked off Feb. 12 with author Jim Bendat discussing his book "Democracy’s Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President, 1789-2009."

Tonight, Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times television critic and columnist Howard Rosenberg will discuss his book "No Time To Think" from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Agoura Hills City Council chambers.

Bendat presented his audience with an array of facts about presidential inaugurations since 1789.

A deputy public defender for 31 years, Bendat showed slides of inaugural processions, balls, parades, swearing-in ceremonies and changing customs over the past 200-plus years in the nation’s history.

Presidential trivia

In 1889, Bendat said, Frances Cleveland, the wife of outgoing president Grover Cleveland, told her staff to keep everything in the White House exactly the same since she planned on her husband being reelected in four years.

Howard Rosenberg

Frances Cleveland was correct. Her husband was the only United States president to be elected for two nonconsecutive terms, Bendat said.

Outgoing President Herbert Hoover was shown riding in a convertible with Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the way to Roosevelt’s March 4, 1933 inauguration. Bendat pointed out that Hoover did not look at Roosevelt in any inaugural photographs. "He had no communication with Roosevelt at all," Bendat said.

As for the March 4 date of inaugurations up until 1937, Bendat said the date was changed because technology allowed the election season to be shortened.

Robert Frost was the first poet in history invited to an inauguration. Frost had planned on reading a new poem he had written for the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961 only to find that the glare of the sun prevented him from being able to see his own writing. Instead, he recited "The Gift Outright," a poem he had written and knew by heart, Bendat said.

Frost flubbed a line at Kennedy’s inauguration, ending the poem by dedicating it to President-elect John Finley instead of Kennedy, Bendat said.

The 24-hour news cycle

Howard Rosenberg, an Agoura Hills resident since 1979, said his book "No Time To Think," co-written with Charles Feldman, studies the impact of the warp-speed news cycle on the public’s perception of politics and the presidency.

Rosenberg said his book discussion tonight will focus on how new technology and new media "entails a lot of risks today."

"With things going so fast, they’re moving faster than the speed of thought," Rosenberg said. "We’re talking about 24-hour news; we’re talking about the Internet—even talk radio. The faster you make decisions the greater the likelihood that you will make mistakes."

Rosenberg said that with news being delivered in so many forms, people are not reading newspapers as much as they used to, at least in the traditional form.

"Newspapers are desperately trying to keep up with the Internet," he said. "I think (people) are reading in a different way. Every generation is confronted with technological change that threatens us. It happened to our forefathers and (is happening) now. Kids can work this technology in their sleep. Any time you have cataclysmic change, it’s threatening."

Rosenberg’s talk will be followed by a question-and-answer period.

Books, events for all ages

Families are invited to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth at a special library event on Tues., Feb. 24. A Lincoln impersonator will visit with children at the Agoura Hills Library and answer questions about Lincoln’s life and presidency. Samples of some of Lincoln’s favorite foods will be available for guests.

Children ages 4 to 8 are encouraged to read "Arthur Meets the President," by Marc Brown.

A community-wide discussion on President Barack Obama’s book "The Audacity of Hope" was conducted last night at Agoura High School. The facilitator was a community organizer who’d been involved with Obama’s presidential campaign.

All events and activities in the One City/One Book event are free to the public. For further information, contact the Agoura Hills Department of Community Service at (818) 597-7361.


 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *