As Election Nears, Release of Quinn Memoir Does, Too

Christine C. Quinn is publishing a memoir in May, just in time for the heat of the mayoral race.

Its title could double as a campaign mantra: “With Patience and Fortitude.” And its cover has a warm, meet-the-candidate vibe, including faded snapshots of the author as a child and a smiling portrait complete with wedding ring and nonthreatening sweater.

The 352-page memoir of Christine C. Quinn, City Council spaker and mayoral contender, has been pitched as an intimate account of a middle-class Irish Catholic daughter who ascended New York politics while coming to grips with her sexuality and the early death of her mother from cancer.

But it could be tough to separate the personal from the political when it comes to the highly anticipated book, which Ms. Quinn’s publisher, William Morrow and Company, said would be released on May 14, less than four months before the Democratic primary election for mayor.

A spokesman for the publisher said “a big publicity outreach” was planned, and aides to Ms. Quinn said she would juggle a book tour with her political and public responsibilities.

“Chris is an expert multitasker and will be able to simultaneously be speaker, be a candidate, and be an author,” her chief campaign strategist, Josh Isay, said on Tuesday.

Ms. Quinn wrote the memoir with Eric Marcus, who writes frequently on gay issues and helped write the 1995 autobiography of Greg Louganis, the Olympic diver, who is gay.

The title of Ms. Quinn’s memoir alludes to the two marble lions that guard the Fifth Avenue building of the New York Public Library, named Patience and Fortitude by Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in the 1930s.

Ms. Quinn is fond of the sculptures, which she often passes during parades. The lions were also well liked by the Rev. Mychal F. Judge, the Fire Department chaplain who was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Father Judge was gay and an inspiration for Ms. Qinn, who recently read his biography.

Her book, which has an undiscounted price of $27.99, has roots in Ms. Quinn’s close-knit political circle: Mr. Isay introduced her to her literary agent, David Black, whose clients have included Mitch Albom and Representative John Lewis of Georgia.

Ms. Quinn’s editor, Henry Ferris of HarperCollins, also edited Barack Obama’s memoir of family and personal change, “Dreams of My Father.”

A pre-election memoir from a major publisher is a common accouterment of a high-profile political candidacy, and Ms. Quinn’s editor has said he expects the book to attract a national audience, with women and gay men a particular focus.

Ms. Quinn’s unusual life story and the historical pr! ecedent i! f she is elected â€" becoming the first female and first gay mayor of New York City â€" are considered significant assets of her campaign; she has already been the subject of glossy profiles in Elle and The New Yorker.

None of her rivals in the Democratic primary have announced plans for books of their own.