After a relationship of more than 30 years, Washingtonian magazine and writer Kitty Kelley are divorcing, and the terms are not amicable. Kelley is in a snit because the mag unceremoniously booted her from the masthead of its current issue, citing her controversial book "The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty." In an e-mail last week, Editor Jack Limpert lashed Kelley for what he called the book's partisan timing and its irresponsible reporting about President Bush:
"We are always willing to attack the policies, and the behavior, of the President," Limpert wrote to Kelley. "But it seems to us that the office deserves respect. We don't think we should attack a President personally -- his relations with his wife and family, his use of alcohol or other drugs, things like that -- without a very solid basis for doing so. . . . We felt strongly enough that we didn't want readers to feel that your appearance on the masthead meant we endorsed the book."
Kitty Kelley is off the Washingtonian masthead because of her Bush book.
(Gino Domenico - AP)
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Kelley, a contributing editor who's been friends with Limpert for 32 years, says she was stunned to find her name dropped when she picked up the magazine. In an e-mail, she accused Limpert of being cowed by owner Philip Merrill, who she noted "has had a long relationship with George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Dick Cheney." (Merrill served on the Defense Policy Board during Bush's father's administration and currently heads the Export-Import Bank -- a position for which the president nominated him in 2002. Upon acceptance, Merrill stepped down as Washingtonian's publisher and his wife took over.)
Limpert told us yesterday the masthead pruning was routine -- names of infrequently contributing editors are cut every year. He added, "I never talk to Phil about this." The editor acknowledged that he has only "scanned" Kelley's book but said that allegations of past drug use by Dubya "crossed the line for responsibility." The White House denounced the book as "garbage" when it came out in September.
Kelley last wrote for Washingtonian in 2001 but told us yesterday she contributed ideas to Limpert as recently as August. "What Jack did was very hurtful," she said. "Thirty-two years . . . I've stood by them."
Why didn't Limpert pick up the phone to deliver the bad news? "I would have had to call her and say, 'Kitty, I think you've written a sleazy, irresponsible book and we don't want to be associated with it,' " he told us.
Right. Knowing the author's reputation for sharp claws, maybe we would have been scared, too.
For Adrian Fenty, A Spot of Bad PR
Parking spots are hard to find: Just ask D.C. Council member Adrian Fenty, who last week left his big white SUV in a no-parking space on New Hampshire Avenue, blocking the driveway of the Manatos & Manatos public affairs firm. Probably not a good idea for the recently reelected official, considering his plates clearly read: "City Council Member Ward 4."
(Courtesy of George Manatos)
The firm's VP, Mike Manatos, was miffed enough to send us pictures of the violation-in-progress. "The worst part about it, frankly, is that within eyeshot you can see one, two, three, four parking areas -- two hotels who park, and a public parking garage and an outdoor parking lot," he said yesterday. "This is particularly sad given that I've seen Mr. Fenty on TV many times calling for a change in the usual corrupt way of doing business in D.C."
Fenty was contrite: "I apologize to the owner," he told us yesterday. "I shouldn't have parked there." Case closed.
SQUIBS
• From foreign to feline affairs: In a journalistic turnabout, globe-trotting syndicated columnist Georgie Anne Geyer has surprised friends with her newly published book, a history of revered cats. During travels to Egypt, Burma, Thailand, Turkey and Japan, she researched "When Cats Reigned Like Kings: On the Trail of the Sacred Cats," her 10th tome. "I'm not a lady with 34 cats or anything," she told us yesterday. "I currently have just one cat, Nikko, and he's a Japanese bobtail -- one of the two tailless cats." The veteran foreign correspondent says she focused on felines as an alternative to "all this deadly serious stuff that I write about."
• Rock stars, take note: There's a new and improved way to trash hotel rooms, thanks to some innovation by McLean resident Robert F. Chamberlain. The 45-year-old admitted in an Upstate New York court Monday that he smeared 14 jars of petroleum jelly in a motel room, but offered no rationale. Chamberlain, whom we could not reach for comment, was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to pay $3,886 in damages for covering every object in his Motel 6 room in Chenango, N.Y., with the greasy stuff in May.
• You may remember him as Drew Carey's boss, Nigel Wick, on "The Drew Carey Show." Now comedian Craig Ferguson has been named the replacement for Craig Kilborn as the host of CBS's "The Late Late Show," the network announced yesterday.
The Annals of Puffery
An Occasional Verbatim Press Release
"An online poll of 773 Americans taken at Empirepoker.com, North America's leading online poker site, indicated that 42 percent of players, if given the choice, would choose to play against Pamela Anderson. 'Our players clearly think Pamela Anderson isn't too bright -- or maybe they just want to ogle her,' " said Ron Burke, marketing manager of Empirepoker.com. "Many of our respondents also said they felt they could read Dennis Rodman's expressions and didn't think he would be very competitive, and only 1 percent of our players said they would want to play against Ben Affleck -- apparently, his poker skills precede him."
