Gridiron Club considers joining the 21st century
They're among the most powerful journalists in the world, but the 60 members of Washington's famous Gridiron Club can be pretty slow picking up on national trends. Just consider how the club, established in 1885, reacted to the 19th Amendment, passed in 1920, giving women the right to vote. The ink-stained boys didn't let the gals in until 1975. Now it's in the middle of another old-guard-new-kids fight: Originally a newspaper- and wire service-only club whose sole purpose is to host an annual humor skit and dinner normally attended by the president and his government, the Gridiron is considering a vote to let TV, radio, and magazine reporters join its ranks. Old-school purists oppose the move. "I'm against the change," says columnist James J. Kilpatrick. "It's opposed by some of the old guard." But Gridiron President Al Hunt of the Wall Street Journal and CNN says the change is an overdue recognition that TV counts. "It took us a while to get into the 20th century," he says, referencing admitting women. "Now let's get to the 21st century."
Selling off those John Hancocks
Former Sen. Paul Simon never made it to the White House, so he did the next best thing: He brought the presidents into his house. Actually, their autographs. In fact, recalls daughter Sheila, before Simon died in 2003, his wife used to say, "Everyone else has paintings on their walls, and we have signatures of dead presidents." Not anymore. After culling the personal items from the collection, the family sent the rest to famed auction house Alexander Autographs. In just the first sale, 68 autographs from Washington to Clinton netted $55,890. "He did very well," said Alexander President Bill Panagopulos of Simon, who had been such a good customer that Alexander's staff knew the distinctive voice of the former Illinois Democrat when he called in bids. Panagopulos said Simon had a nice collection of old stuff, but the real showstoppers were personal notes and letters from modern presidents. Those included a first-ever auctioned letter signed by both Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton ($800) and likely the last picture of JFK ($4,500) signed before his death. That stuff brought in nearly $20,000.
The Anti-Moore
The right's answer to lefty Michael Moore 's Fahrenheit 9/11 might finally get an airing despite Hollywood's effort to blackball it. Producer David Bossie of Citizens United in Washington tells us that theaters have been besieged by customers demanding his Celsius 41.11, which aims to debunk claims against President Bush in Moore's movie. One example: Megatheater Loews has called Bossie to get the movie. And dozens of other chains and independent theaters also want the flick. "After they saw 9/11, " says Bossie, "people called the theaters and said they wanted to see Celsius 41.11 for balance." Because Hollywood won't distribute it, Citizens United will do the hard work. Bossie says it could end up in hundreds of theaters in the big cities of most electoral battleground states.
It's Yahoo!, baby
Our recent Whisper about 20 million Clinton White House E-mails being made public next year shook up a few in the Bush administration. "I don't want my E-mail made public," said one insider. As a result, many aides have shifted to Internet E-mail instead of the White House system. "It's Yahoo!, baby," says a Bushie.
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