Speaking of...we've spoken with some political big wigs who talked about
their Places of the Heart. James Carville and Mary Matlin, talked about
their love of the Shenandoah Valley. And former labor secretary Robert
Reich stopped by to tell us how it was to travel like regular folks after
hitting the road presidential style for a few years as, he called it, " a
high-maintenance "muckety-muck." His book about his experiences is called Locked in the Cabinet.
Interview with Robert Reich
This is very, very important Rudy, and it took me a while to learn this. I
was not muck enough for anybody's taste. First of all, you have to hand
off all luggage immediately to anybody who has their hand out to take it.
I tended to carry my bags and luggage, and that was distinctly non-muck.
Also you have to walk very quickly wherever you're walking, with your head
high, your arms kind of swinging, as if you are just about to meet the
president. Going through doorways, I had the old habit of opening the door
for other people. Well, I was instructed "Don't do that, Mr. Secretary! I
mean, you're the secretary! You have to go through the doorway, and
everybody has to follow you." But perhaps the most important rule of
muckdom, that was hardest to learn, was to relinquish almost all personal
responsibility and authority over your schedule, over making sure you were
at the right place at the right time, over all your travel arrangements."
Locked in the Cabinet by Robert Reich is available fromPowell's Books.
We've spoken to some of the world's greatest travel writers...Paul Theroux, Tim Cahill. Just last week we met Pico Iyer. And we were lucky enough to catch up with Peter Mayle when he was able to tear himself away from his adopted home of Provence in France. He read from his latest book, Chasing Cezanne.
