Shriver signs new book in Ketchum
By MEGAN THOMAS
Express Staff Writer
Droves of curious fans waited patiently
outside Ketchum’s Chapter One Bookstore Saturday for their chance to meet Maria
Shriver, the First Lady of California and former NBC News correspondent.
Inside the Main Street store, Shriver signed her newest release "What’s
Happening to Grandpa?"
Maria Shriver discusses the Peace Corps
with former Peace Corps volunteer Laurie Retallic, of Ketchum, who also
picked up a new biography of Shirver’s father, Sergeant Shriver, called "Sarge"
by Scott Stossell. Express photos by Willy Cook
The turnout at the event was impressive
with Shriver estimating that she signed "a couple of hundred books an hour."
Shriver wrote "What’s Happening to
Grandpa?" for families dealing with Alzheimer’s disease. She said the book is
geared "to everybody, because basically we are all kids."
The book, beautifully illustrated by
Sandra Speidel, follows Kate, a young girl who watches her grandfather’s mental
health disintegrate. In the story Kate’s grandfather loses his keys and forgets
his grandaughter’s name. Grandpa’s forgetfulness prompts Kate to ask her mother,
"What’s Happening to Grandpa?"
"I hope people find it helpful for
themselves and it helps their families," Shriver said of the book.
Changes in her own family provided
direction for the story. Last year Shriver’s father, Sargent Shriver, was
diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
In addition to "What’s Happening to
Grandpa?" Shriver has written, "What’s Wrong with Timmy?," "What’s Heaven?" and
"Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Went Out into the Real World."
Shriver signed a total of 550 books,
including 50 copies each of her three previous books, said Cheryl Welch,
co-owner of Chapter One.
Also featured on the table was a new
biography of Shirver’s father, Sergeant Shriver, called "Sarge" by Scott
Stossell.
Shriver was the first director of the
Peace Corps, headed the War on Poverty for President Lyndon Johnson, which led
to the eventual creations of VISTA and Head Start, was Ambassador to France from
1968 to 1970, and in 1968, with his wife Eunice Kennedy Shriver, started the
Special Olympics.