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(Trenton, New Jersey) The official portrait of
the nation's first openly gay governor will be hung at the New Jersey Statehouse
in a private ceremony this summer, a spokesman for former Gov. James E.
McGreevey said Friday.
The former governor and his partner, investment
adviser Mark O'Donnell, plan to attend the unveiling, which will happen in July
or August, McGreevey spokesman Jonathan Capehart told The Associated Press. The
date will be set after the state budget is adopted on July 1, Capehart said.
A memoir by McGreevey, who surprised the nation
when he proclaimed himself "a gay American" in August 2004, is due in
stores Sept. 19.
A national book tour is to include a stop on the
Oprah Winfrey show.
"This is deliberately being done away from
the September book launch," Capehart said.
McGreevey, 48, announced his homosexuality and
impending resignation in the same nationally televised speech during which he
declared he had had an affair with a man. He then separated from his second
wife, Dina Matos, with whom he has a 4-year-old daughter.
He began writing a book, titled "The
Confession," shortly after leaving office in November 2004.
McGreevey, who is barred by contract from talking
to the media before the book's release, has not been back to the Statehouse for
an official function since abruptly leaving office.
The former governor commissioned artist Chen
Yanning to paint his official gubernatorial portrait and sat for the picture
after leaving office. The work has been ready to hang for about a year.
The $25,000 painting, by the artist who painted
former Gov. Christie Whitman's portrait, was paid for out of gubernatorial
transition funds.
Ivette Mendez, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jon S.
Corzine, said there has been "a brief conversation" between the
governor's office and McGreevey about the portrait hanging, but that no details
have been worked out.
The man who finished McGreevey's abbreviated
term, Senate President Richard J. Codey, announced this week that he had picked
an artist to paint his own official portrait. Codey's portrait, by New Jersey
native Paul Jennis, is expected to be ready in October.
Whitman had her portrait painted for $23,300 and
unveiled it in June 2001, four months after she left office to lead the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
Her replacement, former Senate President Donald
DiFrancesco, had his done for $15,705 using his political committee money. The
portrait was unveiled in December 2002, six months after his transition period
ended.
©365Gay.com 2006
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