unquestioning loyalty. in fact, his apartment in new york was known as the morgue. conkling was enraged when his candidate, former president grant didn't get the nomination, but he was back when they realized they couldn't control garfield. to conkling committee attempt to garfield's life was his ticket back into power. ..

[applause] >> here you think i'm joking. most important things first and that is simply to say thank you to mitchell kaplan. i travelled the country to bookstores. that's what i do. i talked to imaginary people and the trouble to bookstores and i say to everyone who asks books and books is the best in the country and i don't think the -- it's so true. i don't say it because he's my family or because i love him and he's part of our family for so long it just is a fact that's not an opinion that's fact. anyone but argues with that is just wrong. [laughter] i also want to thank of course my family because this becomes a

very bittersweet moment. this is the first event my dad is not at and the last time we were here was an event my mom was at its we have a lot of loss and lost my grandmother who i am also going to talk about, and this event we have no doubt was dedicated to him there was no question to read he was the guy that the one thing you notice now is there much more quiet. my dad was always in the back trying to sell them more books and telling them a good way to get a pastrami sandwich so played a vital role in the bookselling circuit, but we miss them every day and in many ways this book became a search for new heroes and made me more than anything appreciate those that were already in my life and of course those that have been there for me as i was losing parts of my family that taught

me as my safety net and amy and adamle and my nieces and nephews are incredible. they've saved me in more ways than you know and of course my own family there were no books without them, and of course my favorite hero i will save for last that is my wife and i loved you. you are here tonight. [applause] here is to my daughter was born on the night my daughter was born six years ago the book that fossil life he. when she sees the wisdom that is presented to her i had a great plan for myself it was going to be spectacular. it was a perfect plan and the truce was i didn't know anything about being a dad i just had my daughter that's all i knew coming in beirut today that i

came home from a hospital i wrote down rules for her to live by. i wrote as you should love of god, be nice to the kid that needs help in class. there's all these roles for her to live by. that came out two years ago and for two years now my daughter's been asking one question over and over. where's my book. let's go to the and you think i'm joking that she was worse than my own editor. she was on this every day wanted to know where the book was and i started with looking at heroes by sally the first female astronaut in space, and the question to me is why did they pick sally out of all of the great american women why did they pick her and some say it's because she's a genius of physics she's a great athlete and a great tennis player some say just because she was fearless and those were all true. something had to happen and

here's what happened. she had to see an ad in her college newspaper and answer it. she had to see an opportunity. that's why they picked sally. that's the kind of hero want for my daughter. someone she can learn the lesson from and see how you get to do what no one has done before and that is what he rose to my daughter was born. i don't want to give her a book of rules. i want to give my daughter a book of heroes. like rosa parks and christopher reeve, i want to give her heroes smart intelligent self-reliant heroes to was the key to me and that's when the book began. i thought it was going to be like my son's book i had more men in my son's book and women and in her book i would have more women man and a few men and i thought to myself it is going to be the same. i treat my kids absolutely equal. that's the kind of data i am, the perfect one. the truth was i handed the book in and felt they were the same and my editor said we have a

problem. what's the problem? there's a problem with your book. you used one word over and over and over again and every description i said what's the word? she's a fighter. you use it in over a dozen. you use the word fiber in the dalai lama's entry which shows a couple things. my lack of command of english language. i was like change it up here. she's a fighter and here i said she fights so that's totally different. but the truth was it shows two things about me as a dad to refine overprotective of my daughter in ways i didn't know about but of course i am reminded versus to jump into the poll and when she would sink to the bottom of the tool decouple pop up and say okay and we would laugh at that. she would jump up and say i'm okay and it took me a long time to realize the reason she kept saying i moquis because i kept saying are you okay to soil was

always being overprotective about her and worried as a data but here's what i don't apologize for i want my daughter to learn how to fight. i do. i want her to know if you see something you want to have to fight for it and if you see injustice you have to fight harder than you ever fought before. i will never apologize for that. i tell her do not be the princess waiting for the prince to save you. you can save your book. if this book is anything it is an example of that. it's inexpiable filled with people that prove that. one of the people does lots of famous people as i said rosa parks, people that you know and then there are people that are i think more modern heroes like randy. i never told the story but i really wanted to tell it. the story that's in this book titled think anyone knows because it was told by randy read the last lecture and when he wrote the book the last lecture chico wrote it with my friend and he actually passed away a few months ago, and i

think i hope i can honor him to live in my town you work so close with randy your the last lecture can you tell me a story no one knows that no one has heard before and he told me this story. he said on the days before he died he wasn't on oprah or giving a talk show circuit, he had one rule he spent it with his family and was with his young son dillinger and right after he died of his young son dylan came to his father's friend and said his cancer solvable? and his father's friend said no, your dad died from pancreatic cancer there is no cure. you can tell he was upset and said why? and he said my dad told me i have it within me to solve problems. but this is why randy is so important. he is so important because i found out that last summer young dylan went to capitol hill to lobby for pancreatic cancer research. so millions of people hear your message and watch your youtube video but it's far more vital

when one person acts on it and i love that he spoke of that. that is what he is proof of to me. there's also heroes and again i would say this is a book not about famous people it's about what we are all capable of in our best days. we are all brave and cupboards and strong and weak and we are all beyond ourselves and sometimes we do all of those in the same day but that is what makes us who we are so the book is also filled with people you've never heard of. the girl named alexandra space. before she was a year old she was diagnosed with cancer. it was the only life she knew come chemotherapy, surgery and hospitals. she said she wanted to open a lemonade stand not to buy toys or take money for herself she wanted to give money for other kids with cancer. within a single day the lemonade stand raises $2,000 started

popping up with alex's name on them so she says every state in the country ordinary people selling the water and sugar and lemons to help kids with cancer. two months later alex dyce, she's 8-years-old. before she dies she sets a new goal to raise $5 million. this day alex's lenni stand has raised over $45 million is still going strong. i love that. one girl, one idea, one big dream that is a hero for my daughter you better believe she's in this book and i wanted her in here. to me i love that. to me that is the most important part to it again famous people are great but i tell my son and daughter all the time you know what it means to be a famous athlete?

nothing. i love celebrating in this book. i feel like to, in miami you'll see here sheila my ninth grade english teacher and there are people in this room that know her sheila was the first person who ever told me i can write. that person changes your life. she said you can write. you know what you're doing and she tried to put me in the honors class and change me to the honors class i had a conflict and she said you're going to sit in this corps of the entire year everything i did the black board ignore every assignment, said in the corner and do the honors work she said you are going to thank me later and that is what i did. 12 years later when my book was

published i went out and went to the classroom and junior high school and not on the door. last time she saw me i had a full head of hair. my name is brad meltzer and i wrote this book and it's for you and i handed her this book and she is crying. why are you crying? ii was going to retire this year. why? because i didn't think i was having an impact anymore. >> are you kidding we have 30 students and one teacher. she had no idea of her impact on my life and here is the best part and this isn't in the book is last summer spicer retired and surprise i wanted to think this woman that changed my life i went to the retirement party and showed up i was surprised you go back and think for a moment to something there was great when you were younger risking the entire memory ready to risk the foundation of that memory like when you go to a

restaurant you love when you were a kid and you go back and you're like this restaurant stocks. it's a terrible place. it's just a memory that was good so you risk it all and i was terrified to go back. what if i go there and she's not as inspirational, but if she is not as great as i remember the whole memory is gone and i go back to heard retirement party and there i am, and like the teachers' lounge with the cigarettes it's a friday they want to go home they are there to pay their tribute to the teachers that retire and they give a really beautiful thank you gift and all she has to do is say thank you very much i love you i hate half of you but that's all she has to do that's it. and retire quietly my teacher goes up in front of this group of teachers. all of you that complain that it's harder now that the kids are different and it's so much harder to get through to them

you are all getting lazy and old. do not give up on these kids. don't give up on any of them and she gives the rousing speech like they're going to storm the beaches. i'm ready. i signed up to be a teacher. i'm ready right now i'm going to teach next year. it was so amazing and why is this woman my hero? that's a great moment and to those people that you think when you think to yourself who is the person that gave me my first shot? that person to give you your first job that told you you were good for something that person was a giant but here's the news, you are now that person. you all have that power to go out and do that for someone else to say i know what you did here. good job. due to a great job at this that changes their lives in ways you will never know if you don't use that power times fades in your power fades with it so please, go use that power. if i could ask you one thing when you leave this book signing

think of that person that gave you your first job go and thank them. that's all i ask, find them on facebook, what ever you can do, fire them and thank them. you will never believe how much you will mean to them. that's an amazing power we have. you don't have to raise $45 million in lemonade sales all you have to do is help one person, be kind to one person and that's the answer how you get to be the hero. beyond that, a couple of your stories i do want to tell because i felt like i wanted to tell personal stories and tell you why these are personal. the others you will see in this book are those of united flight 93. i lived in washington when it happened and i will say that i actually usually don't like when i see it being used to kind of celebrities things because it feels like a manipulation to me and i knew when i came to who we think and make the heroes in heroes for my daughter when i

was putting it together i can make it the people better the firefighters i would keep on my desk every day there's a woman right after it happened she gave me a picture of her brother and said never forget him. so why keep the picture on my desk and i thought he would be the perfect person and i should celebrate. then i think people like tom commercial was a flight attendant a dear friend of ours who died in the pentagon fight and i thought maybe we should celebrate tom to go along with his life and later actually move forward we forget about those heroes people had to move forward after that happened but i couldn't skate united flight 93 and the people were on for one simple reason. i was living in washington, d.c. on 9/11 and my wife on that morning right now if you look at the fourth slide, no one will say the government won't say where it actually was going but there was going to hit the white house or the capitol, but if you look where they actually put a plaque to honor the heroes the plaque is in the capitol and that means one thing is going to the capitol. that's where it was going in on

the morning of 9/11 i will never forget because my wife was driving to work in the united states capitol she was nine months pregnant for my first child and not saying it was going to come down and land on my wife's car if it hit her there are have a feeling my life could have been profoundly different today and i owe them for that. a couple more. the last two and they are both personal. this book came out and when they told me the day of the publication i was thrilled because of was actually my grandmother's birthday and she is one of the last heroes in here and dorothy is in this book because she helped raise me which i love her for but why she is in this book is my grandmother when she lost her husband.

they said she will never go on and she went on. i screen her eager hauer you doing. are you kidding? you are a jewish grandmother of you are supposed to do is complain. that's what to do you worry professional. the. but she never did and people would look at her and say she has nothing. she is blind and she is deaf and she's a widow but to her she had everything because she had her family. she would show up and we would say we have everything right here. i think of the things in our lives that we complain about and the things we known about and i love that my grandmother always put it in perspective. that was her legacy for me.

the best hero for you in this book is on the last page because the last pages are blank. i promise you you take a picture of your mother or grandmother or mother to remember or family, put their picture in this book and on mother's day or any other day he read one sentence of what they've done for you whether it is a teacher or co-worker or anyone and that will be the most important in heroes for my daughter and that's the way that it should be. that should be the best. for me the last page is one of my heroes and i have a special guest that introduced that he wrote. i want to be very clear when you go to the book signing he doesn't bring leonardo da vinci with him. when you come to the book signing i've brought my daughter with me. okay? so i want to introduce you to my daughter. here she comes. [applause]

>> mother she is the most important hero in here, my mom. when she was in fourth grade, the category and the dominican republic she was only 9-years-old but the people were suffering some people wrote personal donations and she started a club to collect canned goods and soon they were running a food drive even in fourth grade she was smart. the more people she involved for hurricane victims she could help. [applause]

>> i'm going to add to this i love that story. and i love it because all these years later one of the favorite expressions is this, people don't change. she's actually wrong. your mother changed me but when it comes to yourself shares would never changed from high school to hartford from a lawyer to the house judiciary committee to her work your mother has always loved to pick a good fight and it's always the same fight a fight for someone else. best of all there's no one in this entire planet to every single day fights the way she fights for you. she always will. you have a strong mother to make you a strong woman. [applause] we bring the daughter. i have one other guest and

coming up. let me also tell you something. that joke doesn't work in virginia. [laughter] in virginia they are like we have the jews in miami, and that joke tells you. i love that. with that said what i would love to do is open up for questions. i appreciate you coming here and i'm going to close out, but i promise that we would do a couple questions. you can ask about the thrillers and heroes for my son or daughter, you can ask about anything i will make up an answer. yes, ma'am. >> [inaudible] >> what? >> [inaudible] >> what am i telling them? >> you said a story that you told them. >> so here's what happened, last book signing two years ago one

of my heroes in the book is christopher reeve, he's one of my heroes because, not because he played superman -- i love superman but the most important part of the story isn't superman, the most important part of the story is clark kent. you want to know why? because we all know what it's like to be boring and ordinary and which we could do something incredibly on ourselves but the news is we can do something incredibly beyond ourselves and christopher is proof of that. so he to me is a hero for what he did after he had his accident and became paralyzed. he regained sensation over most of his body. of a hero that my daughter introduced nights ago was christopher reeve's bader tama of and read the entry for her father and what i loved the most beyond here's one of my heroes my daughter introduces his daughter and she reads the entry form. when we were taking the pictures

for the book we were taking a one for christopher reeve and i want to show you very quickly with the entry is because we are debating and we kept saying we put them in the superman costume, should we put them in a wheelchair? how do we show him to people? what is his lasting legacy how should we portray him and in the picture we put you can see this one in the wheelchair i will hold this one up for a second. the picture that we take for him shows him in this wheelchair and what alexandra said which i love and i struggle with this, this is how she needs to be remembered, not because the costume on the outside of his pants, which i will do on halloween on occasion, but she said to me this picture is one of the favorites of my father and the reason is because it was taken at the democratic national convention that year which i had no idea. i loved it. and she said -- this was the moment he realized he needed to make this transition from an actor to an activist and you can

see it happening in this picture. that's the picture you pick. and of course i said that every signing we have was to be straight downhill but i love that my daughter got to read that. thank you for reminding me of that. other questions crux. >> how do you go out choosing my heroes of the famous one, to me what i love is there so many. people ask me all the time, tell me why this famous person -- tooby they are not. the best heroes are the ones you live with. we did a poll coming and to me what i hope this book is if nothing else is to redesign our resolve is on what we should be focused on. i think if you look at the heroes of the country it tells the story of the history of the united states. if you look back at the depression the heroes that roughly mess or tarzan, they were characters designed to

transport us elsewhere. it was the depression, people were depressed. look at the name and basically what they wanted his people wanted to be in the 25th century they wanted to be away from their own lives that's when the characters took off and then world war ii comes and starts encouraging on the shores and who comes as the biggest character? superman a country that is terrific here comes superman to save us and if you look after 9/11, when everyone said there would be no humor again, no irony, we will never laugh again remember the first movie that broke for the consciousness was spider man if you look now at the super hero movies the good and that they are making over $100 million a pop. why? we are a country starving for heroes and if you look at the last presidential election obama versus mccain, of the diocese the great hope to america and the other fought the bad guys with his bear hands. we were looking for safe years,

someone to save us. what did the country now. we are still starving and we still haven't found. to me when that happens to see these things continue. that's how it operates. but we didn't -- people focus on athletes and held we focus on our heroes? to me all you've got to do is look at your own family. look at the people that did things for you on the website we submit stories you know what my favorite are to answer the question? over and over my mom and my daughter or my grandmother and grandfather were to come out the jobs so i could go to college. i would have never went if it wasn't for what my parents sacrificed for me. and i love the story and it hits home because i'm the first and my family, my immediate family to go to college and i know my dad killed himself and my mom killed herself to go and make sure that i could attend so those are the best he rose and that's why pick them. if you want to know how it's a

definition of pornography you know it when you see it. you know when you see at and that's the rule. >> we represent the for the chargers. >> i love the chargers. >> [inaudible] your book is going to be our gift to her and we really want something. the timing is perfect. my question is what advisor and statements would you make that point she's starting her own life based on everything in finding these people? >> no pressure and just going to raise your daughter now. [laughter] here's the question, the question is for someone that's

graduating. when i got the first copy of the book, she knows this, i gave it to her and wrote a special note for her. one of the things i wrote to her is this book is going to change over time. it will change always. but every book does the same thing. they change over time but wherever you are in your life there are answers in this book. there are answers not from me but from the heroes and i love that there are people there would buy this for their young daughters and people were awaiting college and as a pastor that said to be even if you don't have kids you should buy this book and read it every night and it's not because of me at all it's because of these heroes and rosa parks and amelia earhart and she's in the would not because she disappeared, why

do we all know her, she disappeared and the mystery is so awesome and we love that she was the first to break these records. i love that, too but you know what i love more than any of that nonsense, amelia earhart was a natural piatt, she wasn't naturally great she had to work harder than anyone as a stenographer and photographer come anything to save money for flying lessons and to buy the plane. as a bright yellow plane she called canary but she wasn't good at it. she had to work harder than anyone and i love that. as for what i say to my daughter it's what i say to her every single night when i talked her into bed. i say to her -- you want to say it? >> [inaudible] >> me. >> everyone is a volunteer. [laughter] ready? say at. dream big, work hard and stay humble. that's it. that's it. dream big, work hard, stay

humble. you can get all the words you what the pros say it for me and i stopped i.t. from a friend of mine that used to say it to -- whose dad used to say it to him. other questions? yes. >> not to go too far off here before you wanting to go back speeches and i love that. the question is will they read more comic books and usually -- i naturally disappointed the comic book readers always ask the first question. we don't want to wait for anything else. we want to be right in front. the question is about comic books. i write superman and batman and have written wonder woman and that's why i will write to be aware my underwear on the hot side of my pants and i love these heroes come super heroes. i think buffy the vampire slayer which was a thrill to work on that right now there are no plans to write anyone knew simply because of working on the next novel and i will answer that decoded they are waiting here it comes back in season

three then the next novel will be coming out in january it's called the sifry assassin and i'm working on it now to reconsider putting together the cover and as i finish on time don't tell my publisher and here talking but it will be out very soon. those are the plans for the future in different shawn russ to read a couple more questions and then we can sign >> you have the ideas as far as what you're working on because they don't show a lot of things it's a collection of things that look for instance mount rushmore, they have no idea of that extra come can you tell us what you're working on? >> sure on decoded were the new topics, things like mount rushmore. for mount rushmore we showed people the secret room that is hidden behind abraham lincoln's hid. that is an awesome television

committee. the show is called brad meltzer's decoded. that is the best titles all time. jul say to my wife what are we having for brad meltzer's dinner because yesterday we had chicken and tonight i would like to have -- she's like you can go sleep on brad meltzer's couch. i love when we get to go to mount rushmore and find the hidden room that is behind abraham lincoln's head. no one that has heard that words is ever going to look at mount rushmore the same again and i will tell you it is amazing how an awful and the show and the hero's harry houdini is one of them in heroes for my son because when he was younger they said he lost his dad you have to take care of the family it's this young guy whc is his original name, and he should have worked in a factory. there was a safe job but he did the most daring thing of all, he

did what he loved. that is the lesson. do what you love, take the chance, when you love and do it and that is why he succeeded. the was the great escapes is peacekeeping simple. when we did the episode of houdini we had the end and whether it was a murder or whether it wasn't and then i actually went in to grab my copy of heroes for my son and i read that, so it's amazing how these work. as i do the research we have other topics. the other topics i want to look at there's a bunch i never talk to the then because the history channel won't let us and then i tell all my ghosh i reminded but of course i love -- i think that is a perfect episode. i will tell you the story that i love, and to me it's simple but it's been done 50 million times before. lucky said, not rushmore, showing something they don't

know about that here's a great story that i heard about jfk and i have to look into it but this is what i want to store with. when you look at the book depository it was owned for a while by this great big billionaire and before he sold the building he pulled off this window and said i want the window that he was shooting at. go to the window on the right. so he takes the wind out and he shows the building to another texas millionaire who comes in and realizes he said the window on the right that he meant from the outside and he got the one from the inside he took a wrong window to the second millionaire said go get the window i want the window. now the best part is theirs to texas millionaires that insist the of the window to the only in texas could something that in san happened but i do want to know who has the right window. we know what the window is that who has it. that alone is worth it. it is other stories people who

sent me, those are the things i would love to tackle but we can see. it's been an amazing ride. yes, sir. >> i love all the books but my favorite is identity crisis. it still has an impact i always turn to it and it hits me the hardest when you see that shot it's the most depressing thing i've ever seen in my life. is there any page that you got as you were writing and that sums up the entire book? >> i appreciate that. he's asking about a book starring superman and batman and wonder woman and he's asking what is the page that you saw when they came in the blue me away and the amazing part is when you write a novel it's your

palate. you have one power that to paint with and you can do whatever you want and he keeps you from driving off a cleft but pretty much you can paint. when you do a comic but you actually get to write to the comic book should be drawn. you have to learn to shut up because you have another guy that's their but some woman is drawing the hell out of it and you can say i want to be a close-up on superman on his face. penalty pulling so tight you see a little bead of sweat coming down, panel for about to be so tight on the bea ducks what you can see the reflection of who he is talking to. i haven't set a single word but now you know that he is nervous. if you're like myself you know that he doesn't sweat. right? come on. but i love that you get to do that and so now you have an -- and issue 52 he does but for that reason -- is camano coming

your like me camano. >> so, but the answer is what happens though is you write something and you get the art and it's so far better than you thought. you asked which of the pages blew me away and i will tell you the one you mentioned after temporary closes his father basically about man loses his parents know why i love that man i lost both of my parents and loved that man before i lost them that that hits home for me. when the new rabin loses his father for that first moment you to realize in that moment it's not that man and will then they aren't just super temmins that were costumes they have in common but in this moment that man sees robyn was his father the of the most horrible thing that will meet in common, they

are orphans and to see that man hug of robin and cry and that pages the page that blew me away and i actually own that pager part because it just blew me away. the other thing i could tell you how comic books were because i love the story, my fever page of or to is a shot of the justice league of america superman, batman, wonder woman, a dream come true and it was the team shot and i told the artist will you sell that page and he said i will never sell that page. i said if you saw this one shot i want to buy and he said absolutely. so, he calls the one they my sufferings i actually didn't know and i called him back an hour or two later and i said it's me and he says i sold the page farda couldn't reach you and i said which page packs he said the team shot and i was like i couldn't reach for never in dusseldorf? yeah, i sold it to the guy that want. he felt so terrible, the nicest guy in the world and i met,

comments n'digo and this guy comes up to me and he says i have a page of art i would love you to sign for me and he puts down my favorite page of all time and i'm like. i really just wanted to be like -- but i looked at him instead and i said here's my phone number, here's my e-mail, i want to buy it from you and i actually can on so strong like coming on too liberal in the bar he actually runs away, he actually runs away and never calls me from ever calls me again but here's how life works. now i'm at a bookstore in philadelphia and pennsylvania and the bookstore managers as i could you don't mind a bit because you are here in assigning some books there's a comic book store that's just a block away and i told them to our such a nice guy that you'd come and i thought of course i will love comic stores. so i walk a block into the comic store and say hello and he said can you find a copy of your book? he says you know, we have a customer who told me this story

about you two years ago it was at comecon and he said he has a piece of art of yours and you loved it so much you want it to buy it. i said this guy goes to this comic store in all of the stores in america my fellow nerd is here? ascent here's my phone number, here's my e-mail again. i said give it to him. a weekly during get a phone call and he says brad, i had this for two years now and i don't know why but i feel like it's supposed to be yours and he sold it back to me and it came right around, my favorite page came around to me so i wrote to him forever and the other one is the shot of suited me become a character in the book that don is it as her death scene you write the senior had you want it to be emotional but he drew the heck out of it and just i remember seeing it for the first time. a husband holding his dead wife and he drew it like it was his dead wife and i looked at that page and i said my gosh we have a problem here this is going to

freak people out, it's going to move people in a way i hope the understand what we are trying to do here and i love that page. i would kill him if he sold it. actually he did sell it. he sold it to me. [laughter] last question and then we can sign books. anyone have a question? in the back. >> i love it, her husband is in the backroom say it when he comes back half of the bathroom? in paris him on national television. that's perfect. >> he is a fellow attorney [inaudible]

[inaudible] >> so the question is her husband for six years now has been working on wanting to be a writer and wants to write this book and what advice but i give him and how do you get to the end of that and to me writing a book is like building a sand castle a grain of sand at a time. chapter when you got nothing you have a blank page. if you write every day you have a book. after a year you'll have a but it may not be a good but it may be a bad but that he will read a book.

when i read my first book i would work in full time i had no money paying off school loans and i would come on and right from eight to 11 every night i would take off. i really wanted to finish that i love these people was talking to so what i would tell your husband. august 24 rejection letters that still sits on my book published by kinkos. lagat 24 rejection letters and there were 20 publishers at the time i got 24 letters. leggitt to your husband and any writer out there listening to this is i was right and they were wrong. i look back on the ropes like an objective. that's it. it takes one person to say yes

to publish your book and that is the only difference and it doesn't mean again that i was right or wrong but i didn't find the person on the first book so what i tell them and it's a cliche but it's true, whatever your dream is in your life the only way you find it is to chase it. whatever you do with your life with their you are at a restaurant a teacher or stay at home who, whenever it is you don't let anyone tell you know, never for writing or anything else that's it, always. why if. thank you for what you do and books to all lesson. [applause]

i want to thank you all for coming tonight. i greatly appreciate it. [applause] one more big round of applause for borat. [applause] [applause] you buy one of his books. thanks for coming. thanks, c-span. >> one more thing i saw the short and wearing don't. you see all these things she was

wearing i designed a shirt for her a cartoon character set. my wife loved it and people started reacting to it as we thought of a millionaire heart and they loved it and lucille ball and they loved it and muhammad ali we brought it to him people work with him and he loved it so we launched a clothing line called ordinary people change the world. if you go to ordinary people change the world you will see my true motto in life. i don't care as i said ordinary people and their ability to change this world and to me if i can give and what people wear these heroes that's great but the best part to me is 10% of the proceeds to charity and you pick the charity we are working with the city of miami who i loved and adored and some of the greatest organizations anywhere and i feel terrible make a wish

foundation the power is in your hands. thank you very much again. [applause] ninth. bourn al qaeda im katella band steve is working on one and sefton jones from the corporation is working on the other one. david is working on another biography at this time, and there are lots of great books that have come out every year by serious journalists slash historians worth reading. walter isaacson's bohon steve jobs is a perfect example of

that. it was an international best-selling phenomena with good reason because all things we could learn from it. >> what are you currently reading? i read a wonderful book written by a british fly fisherman in world war ii. i love that. i read about 48 campaign which if you think that was really wild and harry truman and henry wallace and a strong friend and tom dewey triet fi said about carry anderson the book about george bush and how he decided to go to the war my wife just finished catherine the great, so i've got to go back and get involved in that. i read a lot of magazine essays and actually opened the little correspondence with the donald hall as a result of something he wrote in the new yorker about growing old, and it really spoke to me any way and so we had a

little exchange and it is quite gratifying to the audience in awe, an energetic and i am pretty good sometimes, but the very writer that moved me in ways nothing else in life does. >> for more information on this and other summer reading lists, visit booktv.org. i wanted to read what i thought one of the moving passages as you describe actually what's happening before the cameras rolling so this is what you describe, you said that was not their intent and that was made clear when one of the officers kicked me with a boot in sight lightface smashing my jaw. it felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my head before i could even register the pain one of the other officers slammed me

in the leg with a baton. i heard a crack and i was so surprised when that happened i immediately pleaded with more of the arresting officers but the point of the competitive guardian angel, someone that was different from breast. i know this is going to sound kind of strange but up until that point i felt safe with her at the scene, sort of a matter of presence that wouldn't allow things to get two out of control. i shout out to her they don't have to do this. tell them they don't have to do this. >> yeah. real brief going for the story, you know, when i was initially pulled over i know i shouldn't have been drinking and driving but i have a job to go to that monday and that's paying way more money than i was making from being an usher at dodger stadium. he called me at that thursday and saturday ready to go to work

monday? so when i heard that i went and got a few beers and went over to my friend's house. a little angry but it was all good and i went out with them and we were on our way over to the day and our dad used to take us fishing because i didn't want to be in the same community where we grew up at, so we start over there and the highway patrol got on me and started chasing me in the car so the only thing i could think that is that job to read i have to make it to this job on monday and said this to start work monday i have the copps behind me, i've been drinking and i'm on parole. i've got to get away. >> that's a lot to worry about. >> yeah, you know when you come out of prison and you really try

to do the right thing and then all of a sudden you know that your whole world is about to stop because you are on parole going back to jail that is the only thing i can think of. anyway, i had the lost the highway patrol car and what happened was the helicopter was there and there was no getting away from the helicopter and my goodness, so the >> weren't you in the hyundai? >> hyundai exile. a trade. [laughter] >> the joke here, and he doesn't notice but i was pushing a hyundai at time. [laughter] it have the little tube hatchback and i used to drive in philadelphia to chicago from college and home in the allegheny mountains and it

wouldn't get past 65. it wouldn't get past 55. so you're thinking you are in a hot rod but you're really in a hyundai. islamic exactly. anyway, to my surprise, they caught up with me. [laughter] and when they caught up with me i could see them pulled on the side of me and said it looked like [inaudible] pullover and my heart just started going. so we had to think fast. i already said i know a beating is coming after this case because that's just what goes. unfortunately that's how it had been over the years, so i was looking for a pretty little area to stop and where i chose to stop there was a market where there was nobody out and i said to myself if i get out here and go at least maybe somebody will come out cyber something and sure enough it went. so she ordered me out of the

car. they were husband and wife. the highway patrol, the initial ones on the chase so she came over to me. the already ordered me out of the car, open the car and leave town. so i laid down and she came over to me and she got my wallet out of my back pocket so she could get my ied. as she's doing that we look into the trunk and pop the trunk fast and was trying to get his taser out to use a baton and running towards me. i lay on the floor face down and he's like tell them they don't have to do this. until then they don't have to do this because i already know what's going to happen. so when she walked away from her husband walked up to me and just, like boom, kept me in the

temple area and broke my jaw and asked me how do you feel? you know, my molar and everything was broken at that point and the only thing i could do is not let this guy know he got the best of me, which he did. so it of him -- i couldn't even talk, couldn't see it right, i feel fine. i feel fine. so i laid down and the sergeant heard that. so he comes up and taser me right away. and i just -- he's letting me up. i feel the blood coming out of my mouth and then he asks me how do you feel now? i couldn't say anything and he said looking here, nigger, run. when he said we are going to kill you, nigger, ron. i'm going to run. so why stay on the ground and, you know, just looking for the clearance at that point. i'm still on the ground by looking for clearance and when i see the clearance it's between

the hyundai and the police officer saw what i do is i get up to go run but when this lady went in front of me i didn't know. when i fall down it looks like he was able to make it look like i was going after him because my hands were like this. but i was trying to get my hands in front of me so i wouldn't fall face down. >> the video still wasn't running yet by that point. >> that's when the video had been running about 15 -- savitt caught that. what it didn't catch is the name calling and the taser running, the juice running 50,000 volts in my body. he did that like three shots and discharge all three shots. but while he was teasing me, they are beating me with a baton and he's telling them stay

still, stacyville. a soaked in blood and electricity at the same time. i'm feeling like when my dad almost burned up the house when i was a kid playing with matches and it caught on fire and ran out and two minutes later the kitchen was on fire. dillinger, take a bath and drive off. the extension cord with him. the same holding somehow felt like it prepared me for the night with a taser because the same, getting what with a thick extension cord and shocked by is the same feeling. it's a horrible feeling. so when i felt that, it was like 20 times worse than the extension cord and when he would run the teaser until we ran out

he would say standstill so when he stopped the teaser of course i'm regrouping myself to see if i'm still there. i'm trying to stay still but i can't. excuse me. i can't retrieve so she starts beating me and some. he's moving, he's moving. i can hear them calling me names you effing n, effing n, when you start cursing summiteer really getting into it colonies ames getting into it. so at this point i like man. >> you have a moment that you described in the book where -- and i want the audience to hear you describe it, where you sort of insert yourself in the long history of black people experiences in the united states and you make some specific references to sleeve