From Publishers Weekly
Veteran Florida journalist and novelist Date (Final Orbit) details both why Graham, a two-term governor and three-term senator, has been such a popular politician in the Sunshine State-and why he has not fulfilled expectations for higher office. While Date emphasizes Graham's reserved, deliberate nature, what also comes through is the senator's ability to succeed using unconventional methods: e.g., while running for governor in 1977, he devised the idea of "workdays," when he would spend a day doing an ordinary job, a campaign strategy that, Date explains, Graham took seriously-and one that he has continued while serving as senator. He's also known for singing at campaign rallies. Date is generally positive about Graham's career, emphasizing his environmental record as governor and his important role as head of the Senate Intelligence Committee after September 11. But Date casts a critical glance at Graham's support for the death penalty and his stance against returning Elián Gonzalez back to Cuba-both positions that Date surmises might have been taken less out of conviction than with an eye toward Florida voters. Date also devotes a chapter to Graham's notebooks-in which the senator dutifully records his every move. It's an unexplained quirk that the media has jumped on whenever Graham has been considered for national office. Graham was the first Democratic candidate to drop out of the 2004 presidential race. Tarcher is hoping for a vice-presidential slot for Graham; otherwise it's hard to see a national market for this well-done bio.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Jimmy Breslin
Bob Graham of Florida should win the Democratic primaries and bury Bush.


The New York Times, December 31, 2003
A biography of the man who William Safire predicts will be the Democrats' vice-presidential candidate in 2004.


Book Description
He is a three-term U.S. Senator and a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee known for his quiet manner -- until he raged at his fellow senators that they would have "blood on their hands" if they voted to approve the U.S. military intervention in Iraq.

In 2003, he briefly sought the presidency and after his withdrawal was considered a leading contender for the vice presidency or a cabinet post in a Democratic administration.

He was a two-term governor of Florida, where he revolutionized public education, slashed property taxes, launched major "Save Our Rivers" and "Save Our Coasts" efforts, and oversaw sixteen executions -- establishing himself as an independent thinker not hamstrung by the party line.

He is brother-in-law to the late Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and is a Harvard-educated millionaire who has worked as mechanic, bellboy, chicken plucker, nursing home aide, and policeman, and held hundreds of other ordinary jobs in order to immerse himself in the lives of his constituents.

He is Bob Graham, the subject of Quiet Passion, a biography by S.V. Date. A veteran journalist who has covered Florida politics for a decade and has skewered the subject in several highly acclaimed novels, Date demonstrates his signature blend of intelligence, candor, and irreverent humor as he explores the life and understated power of Florida's most popular politician.


About the Author
S.V. Date has covered Florida politics for a decade for The Orlando Sentinel, the Associated Press, and The Palm Beach Post. The author of the novels Final Orbit, Black Sunshine, Deep Water, Smokeout and Speedweek, Date was praised by The New York Times Book Review for his "hilarious political satire" and by The Washington Post for writing with "authority and surprising elegance."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

He is a three-term U.S. senator and a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee known for his quiet manner -- until he raged at his fellow senators that they would have blood on their hands if they voted to approve U.S. military intervention in Iraq. In 2003, he briefly sought the presidency and after his withdrawal was considered a leading contender for the vice presidency or a cabinet post in a Democratic administration. He was a two-term governor of Florida, where he revolutionized public education, slashed property taxes, launched major "Save Our Rivers" and "Save Our Coasts" efforts, and oversaw sixteen executions -- establishing himself as an independent thinker not hamstrung by the party line. He is brother-in-law to the late Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and is a Harvard-educated millionaire who has worked as a mechanic, bellboy, chicken plucker, nursing home aide, and policeman, and held hundreds of other ordinary jobs in order to immerse himself in the lives of his constituents. He is a shy, reserved man who nevertheless breaks into exuberant, off-key song in public -- whether he's singing a duet with Jimmy Buffett ("Wastin' Away in Tallahasseeville") or trying to win voters on the campaign trail ("Bob Graham is a cracker -- be a Graham cracker backer!"). He is Bob Graham, the subject of Quiet Passion, a biography by S. V. Date. A veteran journalist who has covered Florida politics for a decade and skewered the subject in several highly acclaimed novels, Date demonstrates his signature blend of intelligence, candor, and irreverent humor as he explores the life and understated power of Florida's most popular politician.

SYNOPSIS

He is a three-term U.S. Senator and a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee known for his quiet manner -- until he raged at his fellow senators that they would have "blood on their hands" if they voted to approve the U.S. military intervention in Iraq.

In 2003, he briefly sought the presidency and after his withdrawal was considered a leading contender for the vice presidency or a cabinet post in a Democratic administration.

He was a two-term governor of Florida, where he revolutionized public education, slashed property taxes, launched major "Save Our Rivers" and "Save Our Coasts" efforts, and oversaw sixteen executions -- establishing himself as an independent thinker not hamstrung by the party line.

He is brother-in-law to the late Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and is a Harvard-educated millionaire who has worked as mechanic, bellboy, chicken plucker, nursing home aide, and policeman, and held hundreds of other ordinary jobs in order to immerse himself in the lives of his constituents.

He is Bob Graham, the subject of Quiet Passion, a biography by S.V. Date. A veteran journalist who has covered Florida politics for a decade and has skewered the subject in several highly acclaimed novels, Date demonstrates his signature blend of intelligence, candor, and irreverent humor as he explores the life and understated power of Florida's most popular politician.

S.V. Date has covered Florida politics for a decade for The Orlando Sentinel, the Associated Press, and The Palm Beach Post. The author of the novels Final Orbit, Black Sunshine, Deep Water, Smokeout and Speedweek, Date was praised by The New York Times Book Review for his "hilarious political satire" and by The Washington Post for writing with "authority and surprising elegance."

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly