After a nine-month search, Politics & Prose has selected new owners, according to an announcement on its Web site (politics-prose.com). Former Washington Post journalists, husband and wife Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine will purchase the Washington, D.C. bookstore later this spring.
“Graham and Muscatine have the passion and wisdom to further strengthen Politics & Prose as a community institution that disseminates ideas and stands as a respected and revered public space,” said owners Barbara Meade and David Cohen in a prepared statement. “We are confident that they have the wherewithal and vision to sustain Politics & Prose for many years.” Meade and Cohen also cited the couple’s commitment to serve as full-time hands-on booksellers as a key factor in their decision.
After leaving the Post, Muscatine worked as a White House speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton. She collaborated on the latter’s White House memoir, Living History, and most recently served as a senior advisor and director of speechwriting in the Office of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State. Graham, whose writing focused on foreign and national security affairs, is the author of two books: By His Own Rules: The Ambitions, Successes, and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld and Hit to Kill: The New Battle Over Shielding America from Missile Attack.
Politics & Prose was founded 27 years ago by Barbara Meade and Cohen’s wife, Carla Cohen, who died in October.
