Former president in Aisle 2
Not often does a former president stop by a local bookstore. So when that happens, it requires a special set of instructions.
Former president Bill Clinton is scheduled to spend two hours at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena on Tuesday promoting his new book, "Giving."
According to a special message posted on the store website by Allison Hill, store president, "It goes without saying that there are no guarantees in life. The purchase of this voucher guarantees you a copy of Giving but DOES NOT guarantee you a place in line or a signature by President Clinton. Due to last-minute scheduling conflicts, President Clinton may regretfully need to cancel this signing or cut the event short in some way, disabling him from signing for everyone in line..."
The procedure sounds somewhat complex, involving purchase of a voucher, obtaining a special wristband to be delivered by the Secret Service at an unknown time, and then waiting in line.
"Due to the high level of security," Hill's message says, "this event will be anything but routine, and Vroman's will be running the event per the instructions of the Secret Service. Some of the logistics may not make sense to you, but they have been carefully thought out in order to insure a safe and smooth event."
Also, "Nothing may be brought in line with you."
Other than all that, it'll be casual business as usual.
--Andrew Malcolm
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Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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