My favorite Hillary Clinton autograph story I heard in this very magazine. Somebody went to her office when she was Senator of New York. They brought a Monica Lewinsky book, but took the cover off a Hillary book and placed it over that. He asked if Clinton could sign the book. The receptionist was reluctant, but finally went back to get her. She came out, smiled, and opened the book and quickly signed it. Talk about a bizarre and interesting collectable.

When Hillary Clinton came to do a book signing in my town of San Diego, I didn’t go. Mostly because I can’t stand her, but also because even if I were a fan, I wouldn’t have wanted to wait hours just to get it signed. The line started at 4 a.m. for an 11 a.m. book signing. Crazy. Now, when Jimmy Carter was at that same bookstore, I went there an hour early, and bought 15 books, but that’s another story. I think he’s an incredible human being. Perhaps the best ex-president we ever had. It’s just a shame he wasn’t the best President.

The latest with her book has me cracking up. First the  audio portions that were released of her talking about what a creep Donald Trump was, and how he walked around the stage during a debate and it “made my skin crawl.”

What I found amusing about that was the fact that I agreed with her. It was a bizarre move by Trump. I also found it odd that, with all the things her husband Bill did with women, it probably was best to write that section a bit different.

Another odd thing was her reading of the story. It seemed so unnatural. Seriously, is this woman not capable of sounding like a normal person? It’s one of the reasons those cackling, fake laughs were always played by people making fun of her.

Anyway, on the news today I heard about people complaining about how much she is charging for meet-and-greets. And since I wrote the story about meet-and-greets a few years ago (look it up on this website; people shared great stories)...I figured this would be a good one to write about.

Her tour is going to go across the U.S. and Canada, promoting “What Happened.” I think the book could’ve been two words long, in regards to what happened in the election: she ran.

But I digress. Back to the book prices. For $2,375 (in Canada, $3,000; just like with the greeting cards, the Canadians always get screwed). That “VIP platinum ticket” gets you two front-row seats, a photo with Hillary, and a signed book. Maybe that’s not such a bad price when you consider what it would’ve cost you to attend one of those fundraisers they do while on the campaign trail. Or...think about how much you’d have to pay the Clinton Foundation to get a meet-and-greet with Hillary in the White House when she was Secretary of State. That usually cost a cool mil.

A spokesman for Simon & Schuster, the publisher of the book, tried to explain that it’s “customary for a venue to charge for tickets at events featuring high profile writers.”

That’s true, but...in the last two years when those folks have come to town, and some of them have been huge...you’re usually just paying the price of the book. Sometimes it’ll be an additional $25 and the price of the book (which is either autographed at the table and you get to meet them, or pre-signed).

If you don’t want to spend three grand, there are $70.50 tickets in Canada. In Florida, the lowest prices are $50. In New York, you won’t get in for less than $750 in the cheap seats.

I wouldn’t have such a problem with this, if it wasn’t a book promotion tour. If she just did speaking engagements and was charging this amount -- go for it. Just as I don’t have problems with any ex-presidents making six figures for a speech.

For those that want to catch her, the first appearance here is September 18th in Washington. She’ll hit California, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania Washington state, Oregon, and as I mentioned previously -- New York and Florida.

You have to wonder if the Democratic party is happy that she’s out there talking, and staying in the news. Especially when there will surely be negative things said about President Trump. Or...would they prefer she just went away, the way the Republicans wanted Mitt Romney to just disappear.

Ya gotta love politics.