Mayor for Life

“It wasn’t so bad. Chris Matthews likes me,” said Marion Barry, Jr., fresh off the set from interviewing with Hardball and preparing to speak to a gathering of reporters about his newly published book “Mayor for Life,” a potentially riveting page turner that its Amazon description says is about his “campaigns for mayor of Washington, his ultimate rise to power, his personal struggles and downfalls, and the night of embarrassment, followed by his term in federal prison and ultimately a victorious fourth term as mayor.”

The former four-term DC mayor — and current Ward 8 Councilman — made himself available for personal interviews and even dinner conversation Friday night at LOOK Supper Club for an event hosted by LOOK’s Michael Kosmides and Hollywood on the Potomac’s Janet Donovan.

In addition to the tell-all, Barry (infamous for being caught smoking crack cocaine on camera in a DC hotel room with a mistress) asked that the public not judge him by one night in the Vista hotel…  “Judge me by my 31 years,” he told reporters on hand.  And then, in regard to judging, he let KSM on a little secret:

Due to his political life, he realized he had to stop…. judging pageants.  “They would get so mad at me when they didn’t win,” he said.  “And it wasn’t my fault.  I [usually] gave them high marks.  It wasn’t like I was the only judge!”

Barry’s “Mayor for Life,” written with contributor Omar Tyree, is currently available.