| Thurmond story draws buyers COLUMBIA - Essie Mae Washington-Williams is eager to tell her story as the daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond and a black maid. "I've heard from feature-film producers, television networks, and I just completed a meeting with a book publisher," said Frank Wheaton, Ms. Williams' attorney. "Prayerfully, we'll be able to come up with a story that is good for all of America and will reach a general audience as well as an audience that might be affected by similarities." Ms. Williams announced her long-kept secret earlier this week in Columbia. Mr. Thurmond was 22 and her mother, Carrie Butler, a housekeeper in the Thurmond home, was 16 when Ms. Williams was born in Aiken in 1925, Ms. Williams said. She was taken to Pennsylvania six months later and raised by an aunt and uncle, seeing her mother for the first time when she was 13. She said she first met Mr. Thurmond when she was 16. Mr. Thurmond died June 26 at the age of 100 without ever publicly acknowledging Ms. Williams as his daughter. The Thurmond family has acknowledged her claim. The senator did not mention her in his will bequeathing gifts to his three other living children. "I think this story is big enough to capture all mediums - books, television, in an epic form, as well as feature form at the movies," said Mr. Wheaton, an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles. "We're not excluding anyone." He said he wants what is best for Ms. Williams. "In this case, you pick and choose the individual or entity that suits her needs," Mr. Wheaton said. "We want someone who is sensitive and clear about what the story is about and certainly someone who is capable." "I think this story is big enough to capture all mediums - books, television, in an epic form, as well as feature form at the movies. We're not excluding anyone." - Frank Wheaton, Essie Mae Washington-Williams' attorney
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