News Release

Local angle: Winston-Salem

CHAPEL HILL — Joyful weddings, tragic deaths, glittering evenings and glaring mistakes are among topics of tales in "First Families: The Impact of the White House on Their Lives."

Bonnie Angelo, author of the new book, will discuss its stories in a free public address Sept. 27 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The former Time magazine correspondent and White House reporter will speak at 4 p.m. in 33 Carroll Hall.

In "First Families," Angelo probes 200 years of American history to describe real life inside the White House. As a longtime correspondent for Time, she witnessed and reported on much that happened in the White House over the last four decades. A Winston-Salem native, Angelo previously worked for the city’s daily newspaper, The Winston-Salem Journal.

Her new book tells the stories of presidents, wives, children, extended families and pets who lived in the White House. It looks at how presidential families learned to cope with the demands and grandeur imposed on them, and how they worked to create a home in a beloved but often stifling national monument.

Angelo chronicles exhilarating moments and dark days in the lives of the First Families and the nation, with behind-the-headline accounts ranging from the stirrings of love to the squabbles of marriage. Through it all, families struggled to keep their private lives from the public domain.

Published by William Morrow, "First Families" will be for sale at the Bull’s Head Bookshop, in the UNC Student Stores off South Road.

Angelo also wrote the 2001 book "First Mothers," an in-depth look at the special mother-son relationships that nurtured and helped propel the last 12 American presidents to the pinnacle of power.

For Time, Angelo reported on the White House in both the East and West Wings. As a Washington reporter and bureau chief in London and New York, she covered newsmakers and major events in all 50 states and around the world.

Angelo, a member of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Board of Visitors, lives in Bethesda, Md., and New York City.

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Contact: John Kuka, (919) 966-3323, jkuka@unc.edu