6.5" x 9.25", 272 page hardcover with dustjacket titled START WITH A LAUGH: AN INSIDER'S GUIDE TO ROASTS, TOASTS, EULOGIES. AND OTHER SPEECHES by Liz Carpenter with Sondra Williamson Runnells/ Eakin Press, ISBN # 1-57168-411-5, First Edition, First Printing, Copyright 2000/ You would think that a book about speechwriting, speechmaking, and speeches would put you to sleep. On the contrary, it is laugh-out-loud funny with a few tears thrown in, in addition to being very instructional. It also covers fifty-odd years of Liz's association with American political figures, background on some important historical events, and a wealth of personal anecdotes about her life.

Mary Elizabeth Sutherland Carpenter (September 1, 1920 – March 20, 2010) was a writer, feminist, reporter, media advisor, speechwriter, political humorist, and public relations expert. As the first woman executive assistant to Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson from 1961 to 1963, and then as press secretary for First Lady Lady Bird Johnson from 1963 to 1969, Carpenter was a prominent member of the Johnson White House and also a close personal friend of the Johnsons. Carpenter was an ardent supporter of the Women's Movement when it began and never wavered from her convictions. Her projects and causes ranged from supporting the Equal Rights Amendment to fighting cancer. Her lighthearted memoir of her time in the White House, Ruffles and Flourishes, published in 1969, was a national best-seller. Often called the "funniest woman in politics", she was in demand as a public speaker until her death.

The book is complete and in FINE or better condition with some overall light wear mainly to the dustjacket. Liz Carpenter has flat signed her name in red ink on the half-title page. (see pictures)