THE RICHARDSON BOOK: CHAPTER 2

Some of my sneak preview book review of Bill Richardson's upcoming autobiography Between Worlds got cut, I presume for space. (Here's what was published in The New Mexican Sunday.)

There were several interesting items about Richardson’s childhood and early adulthood in Between Worlds. I thought I might put the cutting-room-floor stuff in my column yesterday, but there wasn't space.

So here's some of the other parts of the book I quoted from:

* Richardson talks about his childhood in Mexico city, where he was His father — a Republican who was a friend of President Eisenhower — was very demanding and stingy with compliments — traits Richardson admits he picked up. “I admired my father enormously as I grew up, and loved him too. I only wish I’d have told him so, just once.”

* Richardson’s father made sure both his children were born on U.S. soil so there would be no doubt about their citizenship. The Richardson had been born aboard a ship.

* Moving from Mexico to Massachusetts for prep school, Richardson felt like an outsider. “Here I was, not quite thirteen, the dark-skinned boy from Mexico among a bunch of fair-skinned kids from cities like New York and Boston and Chicago and their posh suburbs. A few of the kids called me Pancho, but I didn’t take as a slur as much as a recognition of the obvious: I wasn’t one of them.” Richardson goes on to say that it wasn’t until he proved himself on the baseball field that he gained acceptance at the school.

* Richardson’s first election was president of the Delta Tau Delta at Tufts University. But there was a serious move to throw him out of office after he clamped down on marijuana use at the frat house. Richardson’s book repeats his long-standing statement that he’s never tried marijuana.

Remember, folks, as the governor's office reminded me this week, all of this is from an advance copy and is subject to change before the November publication.