1,000 Fans Meet Hillary In Huntington
/By Arielle Dollinger
adollinger@longislandergroup.com
The first few in line were those who said they believed that Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the next president of the United States.
As the hands of the clock ticked closer to the 6 p.m. start of Clinton’s memoir signing at Huntington village’s Book Revue, the lawn chairs appeared and the line to get in started to snake from New York Avenue to Main Street. By 5 p.m., it had made its way from Main Street all the way up Wall Street.
Kenny Mitchell, whose chair marked the first spot in line, arrived at Book Revue at 11 p.m. Tuesday night for the Wednesday evening signing of “Hard Choices,” the former Secretary of State and U.S. Senator’s latest memoir.
“You don’t know what to expect,” the Garden City resident said of his early arrival.
This was a chance, Mitchell said, to see the woman he thought could be both the first female president and half of the first husband/wife presidential team.
As of Wednesday at about 10:30 a.m., the 1,000 available books had “completely sold out,” according to a Book Revue employee. Police activity in the village increased as the day wore on in preparation for Clinton’s arrival.
Andrea Dobranski took her spot in line at 6 a.m. on Wednesday to see Clinton, to whom she referred to as “our next president.”
“It’s not every day you get to meet these people,” she said. “And as it goes along, her signature is going to be more scribbled than when she first starts out.”
Hillary Clinton visited Book Revue a decade ago to sign her 2003 memoir, “Living History,” and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, has done two signings at the store.
On Wednesday, the former First Lady was at the store only to sign books and would not be speaking at the podium, said Book Revue publicist and event coordinator Loren Aliperti.
The day was not without its controversy, however, as more than two dozen gathered across the street from the bookstore shouting anti-Hillary chants and waving signs about Clinton’s role in the Benghazi incident, in which four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, was killed by armed gunmen at the American embassy in the Libyan city.
Only those with books purchased at Book Revue were allowed to attend the event, as noted by a list of guidelines on the store’s website. With the purchase of a book, customers received tickets. Books and tickets were limited to one per customer.
- With Danny Schrafel.
