On October 27, one week after the opening of the Warner Brothers movie Pay It Forward, a screening of the film was held at the White House. The list of invited guests included producer Steven Reuther, director Mimi Leder, and author (of Pay It Forward the novel) Catherine Ryan Hyde.

In the words of the author:

I was allowed to present the president with a gift--a signed first edition of the book. I signed it "To 'Mr. President Clinton Sir,' one of my favorite characters in this book. With respect and admiration..." I asked him if he knew he was a cameo character in the book. He said he had not known. I showed him how I had bookmarked the place where he appeared, in case he wanted to jump "right to the good part." Meanwhile a White House photographer was photographing the meeting, and when he went on to meet other guests, he continued to be photographed with the book under his arm. There were more than 40 guests there, but our entourage was only seven. Steve, Mimi, me, and a few family members of theirs (Steve's daughter Danielle, Mimi's husband Gary Werntz, their daughter Hannah, and Geraldine Leder). There were a lot of Americorps and National Service people present. I was pleased to discover that most of the Americorps people had read the book. One woman told me, "They are all saying, 'This author gets it.'" I took it to mean that the message of the book underscores the work they have been doing all along.

During the screening of the film I sat right behind the president, close enough to touch him, close enough to know what he enjoyed most. He laughed very hard at Haley's lines, "It's been four days. Why haven't you called my mother?" and "It worked! You had a sleepover, didn't you?" When he stood up after the film, he had tears in his eyes. Mimi and I were just beside ourselves, thinking, here is the leader of the free world and we just made him cry.

Then we were able to chat with him some more and he posed for individual and group photos which we took with our own cameras, which we were allowed to bring in. He was extremely warm and personable. Very much the way I envisioned him.

I was very proud to see the film and book recognized at such a high level.