By PAT STANLEY, Register Staff Writer

Saturday, January 27, 2001

The box office hit "Thirteen Days" is extremely realistic, according to one man who had the inside track at the White House when the United States teetered on the brink of nuclear war.

"It's very, very good, and it is accurate," the former press secretary to President John F. Kennedy and U.S. senator told a group of students at the Vintage High School library Friday.

Pierre Salinger was invited by his nephew, VHS social studies teacher Jon Salinger. He is spending the week in the Napa Valley with a brother, retired Napa school administrator Herb Salinger.

He smiled and said his favorite character is Kelly Connell. He's the actor who portrays Salinger in the movie about the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The 75-year-old writer and television commentator said the film was frighteningly accurate in depicting a rift between generals and the president.

Napa Valley Register 1/31/01