You're invited to Virtual book signing Saturday 12 noon Central Time - Newton Minow on Inside the Presidential Debates

  My father, Newton Minow will be signing his new book and answering questions at a virtual booksigning this Saturday, June 14th, at 12 noon Central time (1 pm Eastern/11 am Mountain/10 am Pacific). Chicagoans can go in person (details below). He is a great storyteller. He can tell insider stories about the debates that no one else knows about, as he has been intimately involved in every single televised presidential debate.

From http://www.virtualbooksigning.net/:

Minow is the Vice Chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates and Past Chairman of the  FCC. Minow will  ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ON POLITICAL DEBATES Their History; Who Won and Who Lost? How are they Structured? How Should They Be? What About Obama and McCain? Who Should Present Questions?

This Saturday, June 14, at Noon Central Time, Virtual Book Signing™ presents the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission under President John F. Kennedy, Newton Minow. As co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, Mr. Minow has played a key role in organizing every presidential debate since 1960.

We hope you will join us for a fascinating live discussion, and we hope you will participate by sending in your questions. This would also be a wonderful opportunity to join us in our shop and meet this fascinating man in person. Abraham Lincoln Book Shop will open that day at 10:00 a.m. Our address is 357 W. Chicago Avenue, in Chicago.

Newton N. Minow. Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future. Chicago: 2008. 1st edition, 240p., illustrations.

Newton Minow's long engagement with the world of television began nearly fifty years ago when President Kennedy appointed him chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. As its head, Minow would famously dub TV a "vast wasteland," thus inaugurating a career dedicated to reforming television to better serve the public interest. He has been chairman of PBS and on the board of CBS and elsewhere, but his most lasting contribution remains his leadership on televised presidential debates. He was assistant counsel to Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson when Stevenson first proposed the idea of the debates in 1960; he served as co-chair of the presidential debates in 1976 and 1980; and he helped create and is currently vice chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, which has organized the debates for the last two decades.

Written with longtime collaborator Craig LaMay, this fascinating history offers readers for the first time a genuinely inside look into the origins of the presidential debates and the many battles-both legal and personal-that have determined who has been allowed to debate and under what circumstances. They also explore the many ways in which the new media might serve to broaden the debates' appeal and informative power.

Order signed copies of this book now for delivery after the event. Inside the Presidential Debates costs $22.50. Shipping charges apply ($8 for the first book, plus $1 for each additional book). and Illinois residents pay 9.25% sales tax. Visa/MC accepted. To reserve your signed copies of these titles visit www.VirtualBookSigning.net or call us at (312) 944-3085.