At 2:30 pm yesterday I read on LAist that legendary journalist Carl Bernstein would be at a "super-secret style" book signing in West Hollywood at 4:00 pm, so cameraman/producer Tommy Macker and I blazed over to Book Soup to see if we could get a word in with him. And that we did. Many words, actually -- about Hillary Clinton, the L.A. Times and Paris Hilton -- just for starters. It's all in the video.
Josh Getlin visited with Bernstein recently for the Times. Here's his take:
He's clearly mellowed since the days when he was an intense, chain-smoking journalist at the Washington Post who helped topple a president. Today, he's a silver-haired man with hard-etched lines in his face and a softening middle. He's eager to talk about his latest book, which represents a literary reemergence for him — a personal comeback in a career dogged by dubious celebrity.Woodward and Bernstein took different paths after their Pulitzer Prize-winning triumph, which also included two bestselling Watergate books and the 1976 Oscar-winning film "All the President's Men," in which Dustin Hoffman portrayed Bernstein and Robert Redford was his partner. While Woodward went on to become a chronicler of Washington, D.C., power, a restless Bernstein left the Post in 1977.
In the video I ask Bernstein what role if any Los Angeles plays in his new book, a biography of Hillary Clinton. He couldn't recall anything specific, but I did a little digging. On page 328, LAX makes an appearance as the scene of President Clinton's infamous $200 Cristophe haircut. Also, former L.A. deputy mayor Mark Fabiani appears after having "successfully coordinated legal and media strategy for Mayor Tom Bradley during city and federal investigations of his personal and family finances."
For more:
Today’s Managing Partner in Team Clinton & Clinton NYT
Shining a Halogen Light on a Senator’s Dark Corners NYT
'A Woman in Charge' and 'Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton' LAT
Carl Bernstein Plugs New Work -- By His Rock Musician Son E&P
Problems viewing the video? E-mail me. Video editing and post production by Alex Gans. Camera and field production by Thomas Macker.