Alex Kerry: Capturing the Campaign
John Kerry may be looking ahead to the next election, but his daughter is still working on '04. Alex Kerry, who campaigned for her father in 33 states, has sold a memoir of the experience to Rodale Books, NEWSWEEK has learned. The book, to be published next year, will be a companion piece to the documentary she's making from 300 hours of footage shot on the road. Kerry (her short film about a Vietnam vet screened at Cannes last year) is working on the movie with Jehane Noujaim, an old friend and the director of "Control Room," the 2004 documentary about Al-Jazeera.
While both projects will offer a behind-the-scenes perspective, neither will be a juicy tell-all, Kerry says. After all, she and her camera were banished from strategy sessions. (Though when her dad once asked her to leave the room, the would-be first daughter did hide in the bathroom and shoot through the crack of the door.) Writing the book feels especially liberating. "Somebody let me loose with a book contract and now I have way too much say," she says. So what if her father, who's so far supportive, asks that something be edited out? "I guess we'll have a serious family discussion," she says.
Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.
Susannah Meadows was named a senior writer in December 2004. She covers politics, works on enterprise stories and is a vital part of the Nation team in its coverage of national and breaking news. Meadows spent a year on the 2004 Presidential campaign trail covering Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. John Kerry.
Meadows had been a general editor since she joined Newsweek in April 2000. She wrote for the National Affairs and Periscope sections and was a regular contributor to the Arts and Society sections of the magazine.
While at Newsweek, Meadows has written on the five-year anniversary of the Columbine massacre, Serena Williams and the state of the child welfare system. She wrote a cover story, "In Defense of Teen Girls," (6/3/02) and contributed to several others, including the "Lawsuit Hell," cover, an investigation of Rush Limbaugh's drug problems and profiles of both John Kerry and John Edwards. She frequently contributes pieces to the Periscope and writes book reviews for the Arts section.
Prior to joining Newsweek, she was Assistant Editor at GQ, covering style, culture, travel and contributing regular book and movie reviews as well as a humorous monthly grooming column. While at GQ, she also selected and co-edited fiction published in the magazine and picked finalists for the Frederick Exley fiction competition. She also worked at quarterly literary magazine the Paris Review, where she selected short stories for publication.
A regular contributor to the New York Times Book Reviews, Meadows most recently reviewed the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth controversial book, "Unfit for Command." She also written for New York Magazine, the Village Voice, Glamour, Self, Time Out New York and Details.
She graduated Cum Laude from Duke University with a B.A. in English. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.
Comments