an evening with jenna bush

Background Note: I am a democrat, but I did live in Austin, Texas for five years. During that time Jenna and her twin sister, Barbara, were in high school and then college (Jenna stayed on at UT while her sister headed east to Yale). Their dad was the still the governor of Texas and they attended public high school. They were notorious for getting in trouble, usually for trying to drink beer at Chuy's, a fairly famous Austin tex-mex eatery.

I attended this event mostly because I was curious. I never bumped into any of the Bush clan when I lived there. It is also nice to see someone turn things around. Or at least try.

The event was hosted by a small children's bookstore in Irvine, just across the street from UCI. It is called A Whale of a Tale. This is where we picked up the last installment of Harry Potter over the summer. The store was around when I attended UCI, but back then all my money for books was going to text books, so I don't think I shopped there.

To attend the book signing part of the event, you needed a ticket, which essentially was a copy of the book purchased from the bookstore. Anyone could attend the lecture, which was held outside in the courtyard. Seating was on a first come, first serve basis.

I received several email messages about the event. They updated the details as they became available. There were to be no questions. We could take photographs but no posed pictures. And for security reasons, no large bags, strollers, and all that jazz.

I would guess there were probably 150 people or so in attendance. I am never good at estimating crowds though, so I could be off. It was a mix of ages, although honestly I didn't see many of the 14-18 year-olds that the book is targeted. There were young children, and many of them were invited to sit up front, which Jenna pointed out and appreciated.

We were told to arrive by 5pm, if we wanted a good seat. We didn't make it over there until about 5:30 and so ended up snagging seats in the last row. We actually had to pull up our own chairs.

Security was pretty intense. In addition to the shopping center's security, members of the Irvine Police joined forces with the Secret Service. Everyone who had a book signed, had to empty their pockets and everyone was wanded. I attended a book signing in Chicago for President Carter, and things were not this tight. Really.

The good thing is that things started promptly at 6pm. The owner of the bookstore introduced Ms. Bush and thanked those that had made the event possible, among them the Irvine Company and In 'N Out. Then it was on with the show.

Jenna thanked everyone for coming. It sounded like she had made earlier visits to two local schools that day, and was pretty impressed by the turnout here. Jenna's friend, Mia Baxter, is responsible for the photography in the book, and was also in attendance, but was "hiding as she usually does."

Jenna talked briefly about how after her days in Austin she headed to DC and taught elementary school. Then she joined UNICEF and found herself traveling the globe. It was fairly clear that she was a bit shell shocked by the conditions she found in Latin America. She described how there were areas with beautiful homes just around the corner from the shantytowns where peoples homes consisted of scrap metal and wood.

When she met Ana, she knew little about her aside that she had been infected with the HIV virus at birth and was now a teenage mother. She learned more, including that Ana had lost both parents and her sister to the disease and that it was dangerous for her to share her status with most. Jenna was most impressed by the fact that despite all the hardship Ana had endured, she had such a positive outlook and tried to not dwell on the bad.

The book is written for the teen audience, so I tried to keep that in mind as I listened to Jenna. There has been much criticism of the book because it is written in simple language. The chapters are short and number over 100. One of the things that bothered me was that when she talked about how it was dangerous for people to reveal their HIV status, she mentioned that they could be stoned - "when people throw stones at them." I wasn't sure if she thought people might think of the other definition - being high - or if she really didn't understand the severity of stoning and that it usually results in death.

Part of Ms. Bush's mission in writing this book is to educate; she also hopes to motivate people, especially teens, to get involved. The end of the book, like her talk, includes action people can take to make a difference. The goal seemed to be to let people know that it doesn't take much, but again, it felt very dumbed down and over simplified.

I actually worked with n-stage AIDS patients back in the early 90's. Ironically it was one of the few jobs I could find after college. It is probably one of the more difficult jobs I ever had. Even in the US, even in San Francisco, there is still a stigma attached with this disease. All of my clients were gay men, but they were three of the most different people I had ever met.

Jenna did read from the book. She pointed out that the chapters she read seem very depressing. She wanted to assure us that it does get better and that there is hope. I actually look forward to reading the book. Many of the reviews are more a review of Jenna's father, and I honestly think that is very unfair. I think there are few of us who would like to be judged by our father's behavior.


on the night stand :: Ana's Story: A Story of Hope