What James Patterson Remembers From Dinner With the Clintons
Author James Patterson talks about his new biography, dinner with the Clintons, and a birthday gift from longtime friend Dolly Parton. Plus, what books he has coming out next.
Photo Illustration by Luis Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
James Patterson is finally writing, and talking, about James Patterson.
The prolific author, known for titles like Run Rose Run, Alex Cross, and Women’s Murder Club, has published a biography titled James Patterson by James Patterson: The Story of My Life, and he gave New Abnormal podcast co-host Molly Jong-Fast a glimpse into it on this bonus episode.
“This isn’t like most autobiographies. It is just story after story. And I thought I could do that now. I wasn’t sure necessarily that it could hold together, but it has,” he says. “This trace is from my hometown right through working at McLean Hospital, where I kind of got turned on to writing, and then Vanderbilt, where I went to graduate school.”
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Patterson wrote this book solo, but Molly is interested in some of his famous past co-writers, like Bill and Hillary Clinton and singer Dolly Parton. He tells Molly about a dinner he had with the Clintons where he saw a sweet side to their relationship that he says the public doesn’t know about—but should. However, it’s the story he shares about his friendship with Dolly that takes the cake, literally.
“For my birthday this year, she sent me a poem and she had it framed and it’s like 12 lines, [including] ‘There’s no such thing as new old friends.’ And she said she believed that until I walked in her door. She said, ‘You are a new, old friend, Happy Birthday. I will always love you, Dolly.’ And that’s our relationship,” he says.
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While right now it’s all about Patterson’s life and the people in it, fans of the writer’s thrillers need not worry. He’s got two coming out next year.
“One is House of Wolves, sorta like, Order of Succession. So a family in San Francisco, they own the local football team and they own the newspaper,” he says.
Also in this episode: Molly and co-host Andy Levy listen to some funny clips of Republicans saying “dumb” things, including Jesse Watters, who Molly dubs the “stupidest anchor on Fox News.”
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