Pushing a Book With Locomotive Power

Cohen and Langhart as they celebrated their anniversary on Valentine's Day in 2004. (Rebecca D'Angelo For The Washington Post)

A shy author is an author who doesn't sell many books, as a bookstore clerk at Union Station learned Tuesday from Janet Langhart.

She's on a publicity blitz for "Love in Black and White: A Memoir of Race, Religion, and Romance," the story of her marriage, written with hubby and former defense secretary Bill Cohen. Fresh from their appearance on the "Today" show, the couple stepped off the train and headed for B. Dalton in the station to autograph some books.

Marching up to a clerk, she said, "I'm Janet Langhart Cohen, and I have a book!" She explained millions had seen her on television that morning, and they couldn't buy the book if they couldn't find it. The clerk logged on to a computer and said there were none in the store, but 20 on order. "Since they're late, why don't you order 40?" she purred, and added that it would be nice to display them up front.

"He was a sweet kid," Langhart told us yesterday. Experienced scribes like the Cohens take nothing for granted, and make a point of dropping by stores to sign books and kick-start sales. And yes -- the railroad station bookstore expects to have copies tomorrow. Whew!

LOVE, ETC.

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Dating: Wizard DeShawn Stevenson, 25, and singer LeToya Luckett, also 25, who watched his hot performance in Tuesday's trouncing of the Timberwolves. He's the shooting guard obtained last year from Orlando; she's one of the gals evicted from Destiny's Child who broke out last year with her own hit, "Torn." He took her to Gilbert Arenas's b-day party; she's attended six games. Our blogging colleague Dan Steinberg asked if he plays better when his sweetie's in the stands. "Always." Why? "Look at her."

Expecting: Trista and Ryan Sutter, the couple who met via "The Bachelorette." Their baby, likely the first created by a reality show match (shoulda moved faster, Rob and Amber!), is due this summer.

Born: Twin girls, to "Desperate Housewives" star Marcia Cross, 44, and husband Tom Mahoney, 49, in Los Angeles Tuesday, reports People.

THIS JUST IN . . .

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Less than 24 hours after she checked herself in, Britney Spears checked herself out of an L.A. rehab clinic -- the second time in a week she's bolted a program. Spears's rep had no comment.

The corpse of Anna Nicole Smith is decomposing so quickly that her mother, her lawyer and her former boyfriend took a brief break from their court battle yesterday to view her body one more time. Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, admitted she hadn't seen her daughter for 11 years, but wants both Smith's remains and grandson Daniel's exhumed body to be buried in Texas. Howard K. Stern, who wants Smith buried in the Bahamas, testified he's broke and was supported by Smith, but stands to receive 6 percent of any money her estate receives from late husband J. Howard Marshall.

QUOTE

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"Don't sell yourselves short: You are the storytellers of our age . . . . What an enormous power that is. What an enormous responsibility."

-- Barack Obama, to the crowd of 300 showbiz elites (Jennifer Aniston, Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Morgan Freeman, Natalie Maines, Ron Howard, Jackson Browne, J.J. Abrams) at the $1.3 million fundraiser thrown for him by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen in Beverly Hills on Tuesday.