WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Carter

East Wing brought back wonderful memories for me...some things I hadn't thought about in a long time. Mary's stories are accurate and fun to read.  — Former First Lady

East Wing is an insightful and brilliant story that reveals how some of the most remarkable political partners of the 20th century---including Eleanor McGovern--- found and exercised their public voices.  — Senator George McGovern, author of The Third Freedom

Mary Hoyt helped Senator Ed Muskie's wife navigate the highs and lows of a tumultuous presidential campaign in an era when it was rare for women to campaign on their own. Her memoir is a faithful and valuable contribution to the political record of those times.  — Senator George Mitchell, author of Making Peace

Helen Thomas

Mary Finch Hoyt's memoirs of her years as press secretary to Rosalynn Carter are engrossing, informative and a wonderful read. In a time of 'spin,' she tells it like it was to be a part of history in the making. As a reporter on the other side of the fence, I learned a lot.  — Hearst Newspapers Columnist

Reed M Fawell 111 from Washington, DC, District of Columbia USA This is a wonderful book. Written by the Press Secretary to First Lady Rosslyn Carter, Mrs. Edmund Muskie, and Mrs.George McGovern, Mary Hoyt takes the reader inside the people, places, and events of turbulent times - from the chaos of the "68" Chicago Democratic Convention to the Iran Hostage Crisis in the last days of the Carter Administration in the early "80". Reading this book, I really got to know the players as people, gained a whole new sense of many personalies in Washington, the problems they faced, and the world they lived in. From the first page, I knew it was an insider's story, that Mary Hoyt had really been there, done that. So I felt the frenetic activity of campaigning and running the White House. I saw history being made, particularly the rise of "the New First Lady," a player in her own right, one who transformed how people viewed and wrote about the "Office of First Lady." Beyond this, we learn how the writer, a single divorced woman with two children and little job experience, fought and earned her way into the seat of power. So the book is about not only the workings of politics in the late sixties and seventies, but also about the rise of women in the second half of the twentieth century. On both counts, its the "real story" told by someone who was there in the thick of it. It is also told by someone who can write. Very lively and engaging, and informative. Buy and read the book. You won't be disappointed.  — Harris Fawell

Cathy Fawell from Washington DC
The insider views, from the Press Secretary of the McGoverns, Muskies and Carters are illuminating as we can see the evolution of the women's roles in their husbands political lives. After I started the book, I bagged the rest of my TO DO List for the weekend. It's a great read--present tense, short crisp sentences, make your feel like you are there, and moving as fast as Mary Hoyt must have been at the time! The book is even more enjoyable and meaningful, because the author's personal life--full of challenges to say the least-- is interwoven into story. Hers is a rather inspiring story of one woman's "evolution."  — Cathy Fawell

Dale Leibach from washington, dc Mary Hoyt's East Wing was a thoroughly enjoyable read. For those who care about public policy, politics and history it is a wonderfully up close and personal look at a time of rather dramatic change. At the same time it is every bit as lively and intimate as the highly acclaimed "West Wing" television series.

East Wing takes an interesting approach in its look back at the significance of the changes taking place in the 70s. The author does this through the prism of her own life and an activist First Lady. Capturing the changing times and how they impacted her life and then played out on one of the leading stages in the world -- the White House -- was informative and entertaining.

A tip of the hat to the book's author Mary Hoyt for reminding us just how much we have all changed and the significance of those changes. It is a book I want my daughter to read.  — Dale Leibach