"The call came at 2:15 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2008, awaking Rep. James Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina. He instantly recognized the voice on the other end of the line. It was Bill Clinton and he was angry. 'If you bastards want a fight, you damn well will get one,' Clyburn recalls Clinton screaming at him, a moment the congressman recounted in his new memoir, 'Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black.' 'He was very upset,' Clyburn told 'The Fine Print' of the incident. 'His wife had just suffered a major defeat in the South Carolina primary, and I had not been involved in it, but Bill Clinton thought otherwise.' Despite Clinton’s belief to the contrary at the time, Clyburn maintains that he played no role in Obama’s sweeping victory over Clinton in the South Carolina primary, having made a promise to the Democratic National Committee that he would stay out of the 2008 nominating fight between Clinton and Obama. Since the time of their heated late-night phone call, Clyburn said his relationship with Clinton has healed somewhat. 'We got over that,' Clyburn said. 'We met by accident several weeks later… we've seen each other several times since. In fact, I had a lovely breakfast with Hillary two to three years after that. I think everything's okay.'" (ABCNews)
Vanity Fair editor in chief Graydon Carter.
"Print may be dying, and most magazine and newspaper editor in chief jobs are only memories of the power and influence they once conferred. Except for one, still commanding the obeisance of the high and mighty. That job, held now for more than two decades by among the most crafty and astute players in modern media, will likely soon be open — and, as befits the last grand job in general interest publishing, sought after by pretty much everybody in the industry. To be the editor of Vanity Fair is less a job than a role, performed for the last 22 years by Graydon Carter. As magazines have gone into dramatic decline, Carter has maintained the illusion that he is arbiter, style master, power broker, host with the most, and absolute king of his publishing domain. Carter turns 65 in July and, while without a formal announcement of his retirement after 22 years, seems to be taking valedictory bows everywhere, most recently at his induction a few weeks ago into the Magazine Editor's Hall of Fame, a career topper.I've written for Vanity Fair for many years. But, like most people in the VF court, while I have access to rumors, and practice reading tea leaves, I've no more certainty about Carter's plans than anyone else. Cosseted by a protective entourage, he has long cultivated both mystery and hauteur. (Before my first Vanity Fair party, a minion called to make sure I understood that 'at these events, Graydon doesn't like to speak to the writers.')" (Michael Wolff)
"Welcome back to Paris in 30 Days' conversation series. In today's entry, French GQ sex columnist Maïa Mazaurette teaches New York sex columnist Maureen O'Connor about the French way of sex. At age 25, Mazaurette abandoned a career in TV journalism to become Paris's answer to Carrie Bradshaw. Ten years later, she divides her time between Paris and Copenhagen.Her column is called Sex Actu ... So tell me, how would you describe the French attitude toward sex? I can only compare it to the countries I’ve lived in — Germany, and now Denmark, and I’ve made some trips to the U.S. I’d say the main difference is that in France we’re so straightforward. We don’t have these dating rituals; we just start with sex! And then, if the sex was good enough or we feel connected somehow, then we would try to build a relationship. So you always have sex on the first date, then? Absolutely! But it’s not even an issue because there is no date. There is just first sex. You think someone is attractive, you give it a try. I think it really makes sense. (Of course I say that, because I’m French, right?) But if you don’t have sex first, you build up too much pressure. You start thinking, I have seen this guy for four or five restaurants, or however you do it in the U.S., and what if it fails? If you get sex out the way first, then you can only have good surprises. I never dated an American guy, but even with Danish and German guys, there were so many dates and it was taking so much time. At some point I just felt like, Ahhh! Stop it, are you going to kiss me? Are we going to your place? My place? Do something! I felt like I was investing a lot of time in something that might not be worth it anyway. It’s interesting to me that France is a predominantly Catholic nation, and yet the culture is so sexually free. Yes, but we don’t connect sex with ethics or morality or values in general, you know? There have been many studies about how French people don’t care about the sex life of our president, or if a person is unfaithful. It’s absolutely not a problem for me." (Maureen O'Connor)
"Yesterday was Mother’s Day in America. The restaurants were jammed between 6 and 8, and then the fair weather brought out the later crowd. Mother’s Day has been an American 'holiday' all my life although it really took hold in the 1960s. How did that happen? I always thought it was the result of the marketing genius Joyce C. Hall, the man who created Hallmark Cards and became a tycoon. However, according to Wikipedia the first 'Mother’s Day' was celebrated in 1908 when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother Ann Reeves Jarvis. Miss Jarvis began the campaign three years in 1905. Her mission was to honor her mother for work Mrs. Jarvis had begun, and to continue the work she started as a peace activist caring for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War. Mrs. Jarvis was part of a movement of independent thinking women, far ahead of their time. Originally the idea was started as a protest to the carnage of that war by women who had lost their sons and husbands. Mrs. Jarvis was part of that original movement. Mr. Hall of Hallmark was on the (new) case very soon after." (NYSD)
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