March 12, 2003 Congresswoman Millicent Fenwick's Biography To Be Featured at the Library of Congress

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The first biography about former congresswoman and U.N. ambassador Millicent Fenwick will be featured in a presentation by Amy Schapiro, the author of "Millicent Fenwick: Her Way" (Rutgers University Press, 2003) at noon, Tuesday, April 1, at the Library of Congress in the Mumford Room, sixth floor, James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave., S.E., in Washington, D.C.

Part of the Center for the Book's author series, Books & Beyond, the program is co-sponsored by the Visitor Services Office. The event is free and no tickets or reservations are required. A book signing will follow the program.

"You couldn't invent Millicent Fenwick ... she was unique," said former New Jersey governor Thomas H. Kean in his foreword to Schapiro's book. A popular and outspoken Republican from New Jersey, who was 64 years old when she was elected to Congress in 1974, Millicent Fenwick is affectionately remembered as the pipe-smoking grandmother who served as the model for Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury" character Lacy Davenport. According to Schapiro's biography, Fenwick defied such characterizations to become, in the words of Walter Cronkite, "the conscience of Congress."

Schapiro, who is also from New Jersey, is a social science analyst in the U.S. Department of Justice. Her extensive interviews with Fenwick's son Hugh, who granted her exclusive rights to Fenwick's personal papers, oral histories, letters and photographs, provide rare insight into the life and career of one of America's most memorable politicians.

The Center for the Book was established in 1977 to use the resources and prestige of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books, reading and literacy. For information about its forthcoming events, publications, and the activities of its affiliates in 50 states and the District of Columbia, visit its Web site at https://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/.

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PR 03-043
2003-03-12
ISSN 0731-3527