Saturdays with Seniors: It’s the Regan Era!

Over the years, many writers in the memoir classes I lead have self-published their work. Until now, only two had found independent publishers:

• Hanna Bratman’s collection What’s In My Head was published by Blue Marlin Publications in 2011, and
• Anna Perlberg’s The House in Prague was published by Golden Alley Press in 2007

And now there are three.

Sound the trumpets! Regan Burke’s long-awaited memoir In That Number has been published by Tortoise Books! Many of you know Regan from her Back Story Essays blog and the guest posts she’s written here. In my book Writing Out Loud I describe her as “a civil rights activist who writes colorful life stories and sparkles when she laughs.” There’s a lot more to Regan than that, though, and she’s generously inviting all you Safe & Sound readers to get to know her better at the virtual book launch for In That Number. Here’s all the information you need – look for me there!

Regan Burke’s “In That Number” Virtual Book Launch
With
NPR/WBEZ Reporter Monica Eng

Monica Ng will talk with Regan about the book.

Skyline Village Chicago Zoom Event

Wednesday October 21, 4:00 pm

Register here for Zoom Book Launch

Pre-order book at Tortoise Books, or Reganburke.com

In that Number, by Regan Burke

I highly recommend this wise and wonderful memoir about politics, about families, and then politics of families. Regan writes like an angel–and sometimes, even better, like the devil.” — Rick Perlstein, Author, Historian and Journalist

I could not put down this memoir. It is a tale of redemption and rebirth. Regan Burke writes of all the pain of growing up the daughter of two alcoholics and well-dressed grifters “who didn’t pay their bills, lied, and cheated, but still had cocktails and hors d’oeuvresevery night before dinner.” Her story is that of the Baby Boomer generation from sex, drugs, and rock and roll to various political campaigns in Illinois and finally to the Clinton White House and beyond. In That Numberis a touching narrative of survival, loyalty, and compassion from a woman who has seen it all.–Dominic A. Pacyga Author of Chicago: A Biography

Regan and Bill!

Publisher’s Note
A unique hybrid memoir, Regan Burke’s In That Number chronicles one woman’s struggle to find grace and peace amidst the chaos of politics and alcoholism. It’s an important public book from a longtime Democratic party activist, one whose beliefs led her from protesting the Vietnam War at the Lincoln Memorial to working inside the White House-a woman with fascinating firsthand reminisces about everything and everyone from Woodstock to Vladimir Putin, from The Exorcist to Bill Clinton, from Roger Ebert to Donald Rumsfeld. It’s also an intimate and revealing private memoir from a woman who spent a harrowing childhood being raised by shockingly dysfunctional parents-a roguish naval-aviator-turned-lawyer-turned-con-man father and a racist socialite mother-and bouncing from house to house to luxury hotel, trying to stay one step ahead of the creditors. (And not always succeeding.) It’s an entertaining and ultimately heartwarming journey from private schools to the psych ward, from hippie communal living to the corridors of power to the pews of church, and through the rooms of twelve-step recovery to the serenity of long-term sobriety. More at ReganBurke.com

Regan Burke is a political operative from Chicago. She’s worked in the campaigns of Adlai Stevenson, Gary Hart and Bill Clinton; Michael Madigan’s Democratic Majority of Illinois and was the Executive Director of the Illinois Democratic Party. Regan retired from David Orr’s Cook County Clerk office.

For more information see Reganburke.com