The Reliable Source

A Parade Veteran Still Loves His Marching Orders

With all this talk of change, you might wonder if the irrepressible Charlie Brotman had announced his last inaugural parade.

But no! The 81-year-old PR man and former voice of the Washington Senators will be back Jan. 20, binoculars in hand, as part of the team narrating the passage of the presidential inaugural parade.

It will be Brotman's 14th consecutive inaugural, his 11th president, in 52 years, starting with the 1957 inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower. Some traditions an incoming president just can't mess with.

"It's a major 'Wow!' for me," Brotman told our colleague David Montgomery yesterday.

Over the years, Brotman has enjoyed a perch in the media box across from the presidential reviewing stand, where it's been his job to give the VIPs in the bleachers -- including the new president -- advance notice of the marchers as they turn onto Pennsylvania Avenue.

He may be the world's greatest connoisseur of inaugural parades. He remembers Jimmy Carter's, when the president walked, and Ronald Reagan's first inaugural, so long that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir arrived in the dark. Reagan's and JFK's "were the two biggest and best, and they were the biggest and best personalities," he said -- then quickly added Bill Clinton to that list. Clinton's arrival at the White House on his second inaugural was so late that Brotman had the ticket-holders doing the wave to pass time in the bleachers.

He's got high hopes that the new guy will join the parade -- and join the Brotman list of best inaugurals. "It appears to me that with Obama's personality, I think he'll do a little walking."

HEY, ISN'T THAT . . . ?

· Michelle Obama taking Sasha and Malia to the 1:45 screening of "Bedtime Stories" at Gallery Place on Sunday -- a little first-day-in-D.C., last-day-before-school-starts treat. The future first lady sat between the girls in the fourth row of the theater's upper section, an agent at the end politely asking patrons to find another row; they left quietly as the final credits rolled.

· Jim Zorn dining with his old Seahawks teammate Steve Largent at 2941 in Falls Church on Sunday. The Redskins coach had the squash ravioli, the former congressman had beef; both drank Arnold Palmers and toured the kitchen.

THIS JUST IN . . .

· Laura Bush has signed a deal to pen her memoirs for Scribner, the publisher announced yesterday, saying the 2010 book will capture "the personal and historic moments that have defined her life." Unknown how much the deal, put together by celebrity book broker Bob Barnett, is worth; the Associated Press cited sources who estimated that her advance is likely in the millions, though probably not the $8 million fetched by Hillary Clinton for her post-White House book. Also unknown is how much the first lady will dish: The former librarian is known to be both loyal and reserved. Sources in the publishing world tell us she did not reveal many juicy details to the publishing house reps who met with her late last year, and she apparently has not keep a diary of her White House years.

· India, the Bush family cat, passed away Sunday at the White House. The 18-year-old black American shorthair -- who also answered to "Kitty" and "Willie" -- was named by a 9-year-old Barbara Bush in honor of former Texas Rangers player Rubén "El Indio" Sierra. When the twins went to college, India stayed with their parents at the White House. India is survived by terriers Barney and Miss Beazley.

LOVE, ETC.

· Born: Twin daughters to married actors Rebecca Romijn, 36, and Jerry O'Connell, 34, on Dec. 28. And the Hollywood baby names du jour? Charlie Tamara Tulip and Dolly Rebecca Rose.

· Split: TV star Jennifer Love Hewitt, 29, and Scottish actor Ross McCall, 32, People reports, after three years together, including a year-long engagement

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