It was bound to happen: at one of Marlo Thomas's bookstore signings for her newest bestseller, The Right Words at the Right Time, a fan approached singing the theme song from Thomas's late '60s TV megahit, That Girl. (Without missing a stroke of her pen, Thomas joined right in.) Other fans, reported Right Words publisher Atria Books, have brought along well-worn copies of the actress/author's 1974 bestseller Free to Be... You and Me, as well as LPs (not CDs, if you please) of that book's recorded version. In addition to Thomas's longtime popularity and Atria's extensive promotional campaign, this is one bestseller that seems like a clear example of, well, The Right Words at the Right Time. The first-person collection of words that motivated and inspired such notables as Laura Bush, Walter Cronkite, President Jimmy Carter, Bill Cosby, etc. has obviously touched Americans during an especially vulnerable period. Thomas's media appearances have included Today, Live with Regis and Kelly and a 20-city radio satellite tour; still to come are The View, Larry King Live, Entertainment Tonight and many more. A six-city tour began last week, and the book's first serialization is running in the current O magazine. After four trips to press, the in-print total is 250,000.
With reporting by Dick Donahue.
