Pasadena Takes In Howard Stern, Literary Refugee : Celebrities: Shock radio jock will sign his book in a store there. A scheduled West Hollywood event was canceled after that city required a $25,000 bond for extra security, saying 15,000 people might show up.
The self-proclaimed “king of all media†has issued a new proclamation: West Hollywood is out and Pasadena is in.
The publicity-seeker in question is Howard Stern, the top-rated, raunchy morning radio personality, and the cities were the former and current sites for his much-hyped book signings.
On Thursday, the radio personality will autograph his best-selling book, “Private Parts,†at Vroman’s bookstore in Pasadena after a contentious battle with the city of West Hollywood, where Book Soup is located. That store was the originally scheduled site for Stern’s appearance.
The event had been publicized for the past few weeks, but on Tuesday Stern said he was informed that the trendy West Hollywood bookstore could not afford fees that the city was imposing for extra deployment of sheriff’s deputies, and that it would have to cancel the signing.
The fees--which included $14,000 for 36 extra officers--would have required Book Soup to post a $25,000 bond for city services, said West Hollywood public information officer Helen Goss.
Stern called a news conference, interpreting the city’s requests as an infringement of his civil rights. He said the city was singling him out because of his controversial persona.
“This is an amateur attempt at a shakedown,†he said on the air. “I think it is a civil rights violation.â€
Based on book signings in New York and Philadelphia, West Hollywood officials said they would have had to be prepared for about 15,000 people crowding the small store and tying up traffic along Sunset Boulevard and surrounding streets.
“What we were concerned about is spillover on the sidewalks and streets,†Goss said. “This is a very serious issue for us in terms of protecting the public safety. What we’re asking is not unusual.â€
But Pasadena officials have a different outlook.
When Vroman’s approached them about holding the book signing at the Colorado Boulevard site, they agreed without hesitation, said Mickey Touchette, Vroman’s advertising coordinator.
“We’re a larger store than Book Soup, with a large parking lot, and the police have been very cooperative in helping us out,†Touchette said. “They won’t have to hire extra off-duty officers.â€
She said the store took on the challenge of huge crowds because it welcomes controversial authors.
“We’ve had a lot of controversial figures in the past, and we’re just providing a forum for freedom of speech,†Touchette said.
“Private Parts,†published by Simon & Schuster, is No. 1 on the Los Angeles Times best-seller list. Two recent book signings in New York drew an estimated total of 25,000 people and, though the Stern fans were orderly, the events tied up traffic, overwhelmed police and shut down the surrounding areas during the hours they occurred.
Touchette said that the Pasadena store has hosted book signings by Oliver North, Norman Schwarzkopf, Don Henley, Sophia Loren and Bette Midler.
She said Stern will be on hand Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and that Vroman’s will remain open for 38 hours straight, from 9 a.m. today until Thursday at 11 p.m. to accommodate Stern’s fans who want to line up early.
Times staff writer Jane Hall contributed to this story.
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