Hey, aren't you...

Among the attendees I saw at the Book Expo:

(That is, the ones who walked the floor with the commoners, not the sequestered hem-of-the-garment-for-pay crowd.)

• Former Rep./current book industry lobbyist Patricia Schroeder (D-CO)
• Rep. Major Owens (D-NY)
• 2004 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik
• Lynn 'Dog-Killer' Johnston
• Jack Klugman
• Assorted Stormtroopers and Imperial Officers.

• Poet Nikki Giovanni (a sexagenarian with a "Thug Life" tat on her arm)
• C-Span moderator Connie Doebele

The three finalists for badassest coolest (sorry Connie - I still think you're the tops):

• Harvey Pekar
• Frank Miller
• Henry Rollins

And the winner is:

Punk Rocker/Essayist/Publisher/Philosophe Rollins. Why? (Forgive lack of logic here.) Pekar and Miller had long lines of people waiting for their autographs, which is not their fault, of course. But Rollins was just kind of hanging around talking to people about his books and music and stuff. (Guy in suit, guy in suit, guy in suit, Tattooed Man, guy in suit, guy in suit -- Hey, wait a minute!) Give him a listen/read sometime if you haven't before. I started the Solipsist and didn't finish it, but maybe I will put it back on the stack.

In other news, I shouldn't have been surprised to see that Woodward has a book coming out on the whole Deep Throat story next month. He's obviously had this in the wings for a while, ready to go, and when Mr. Felt felt the need to let it fly, Woodward and S&S were ready to go.

It looks like Sarah Weinman was there as well. And I saw the guy dressed like a toilet, too.