FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PUBLICATION DATE: JANUARY 12TH, 2009
Contact: Lauren Dwyer, Publicist
646.307.5698, Lauren.dwyer@palgrave-usa.com

A stable childhood in West Virginia, two attentive parents and plenty of siblings are not what most would consider the makings of a would-be assassin. To the shock of the entire United States, Sara Jane Moore emerged from these seemingly normal beginnings and catapulted herself to the forefront of the public eye when her shot came within six inches of killing President Gerald Ford in 1975.

Moore’s assassination attempt failed, but an aura of secrecy still follows in her wake. What led this woman to shun the many opportunities for a typical, sheltered existence as a housewife and mother and opt instead for notoriety? Journalist Geri Spieler’s new book, TAKING AIM AT THE PRESIDENT is the riveting true story of the only woman to fire a bullet at an American President.

Spieler received a letter from Moore asking to meet with her at the prison. That visit initiated Spieler’s relationship with Moore that spanned three decades and culminated in a shockingly in-depth understanding of Moore’s complicated psyche. In keeping with her eccentric tendencies, Moore revealed information to Spieler, then contradicted herself or obscured the truth. Faced with a less than conventional subject, Spieler conducted independent research, including an interview with President Ford himself, to determine the facts behind Moore’s own narrative of her past.

Spieler follows Moore from her small town childhood to her release from prison in December 2007. Along the way, Moore entered and dropped out of the military, was married five times, abandoned three children, and was a double agent who infiltrated the political radical community and at the same time was an FBI informant.

Moore’s story is far from typical, and TAKING AIM AT THE PRESIDENT is a mesmerizing treatment of social action gone awry.

Geri Spieler is an investigative journalist and award-winning speaker. She has written for the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Forbes. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.