For Leslie Lautenslager, it started as an interest in protocol and diplomacy ultimately landing her as a first-time author recalling her years as Colin Powell’s assistant.

“I don’t think of myself as an author,” she said, but, “I had to share the side of him that I knew, not the side the public knew,” she added.

Lautenslager, an expert in international protocol, was Powell’s executive assistant for 25 years before his death from Covid-19 in October 2021. To honor Powell, in an effort he supported, Lautenslager put it all in a book, "My Time with General Colin Powell, Stories of Kindness, Diplomacy, and Protocol," that hits the shelves later this month.

She tells of diplomacy among the world chaos, particularly in the Middle East and Powell’s role there, and traveling in Africa. He was an important figure in Desert Shield through Desert Storm and beyond. 

But she also tells of Powell the person, and the lighthearted stories “were the most fun to write,” she said. She brings enthusiasm to the telling. There were also international anecdotes.

Leslie Lautenslager’s new book on Colin Powell hits the shelves in late October. 

 

One story involved a time they were on the crowded streets of Trinidad and Tobago and Leslie was in the second car with the first lady of Trinidad-Tobago when their limousine got a flat tire and the two cars got separated. Powell and the president were heading in the direction of a steel-drum street show and Leslie and the First Lady “had to sprint about two blocks to catch up with them, and we were in dress heels so it was not easy,” she said.

Another time, they were in Nigeria and the street was full of people when a couple of guys walked by dressed in camouflage with guns. Powell saw what was going on from the back of their chauffeured car and slowly put Leslie’s purse on the floor under his feet. She could feel the tension. “Suddenly I was terrified,” she said.

Leslie Lautenslager grew up in Hayfield Farm and graduated from Hayfield Secondary before going on to graduate from William and Mary College.

As she was juggling around the book idea, a longtime friend and Fairfax Station resident, Linda Reynard Basnight, urged her to go for it. They were on a weekend trip to Williamsburg when they ran into a fellow writer and author Bradley Harper; Basnight blurted out, “she’s writing a book,” and that got him involved. Harper helped Lautenslager with word-smithing and knew a publisher and all the process details. He’s listed on the book as a co-producer.

Basnight referred to that meeting at the restaurant as “serendipity.” 

“I had always encouraged her,” Basnight said, “people need heroes,” she added. Basnight and her husband looked at the first chapters, but after that “she was off to the races,” Basnight said.

Sitting Down to Write

For Lautenslager, sitting down and writing a book of international significance did not come naturally, but with a publisher and enthusiastic friends, she took on the task wholeheartedly. It put her out of her comfort zone but some say that’s how people grow. “We’re working on a big PR push,” she said.

With the uneasy political situation in this country as well as the instability in some parts of the world, “people are eager for enthusiasm,” she said. Maybe the enthusiasm surrounding a positive world figure like Colin Powell will be just what is needed. When the book hits the stands later in October, she may be on her way to book signings, talk shows and podcasts and she realizes only time will tell. 

“I’m really excited, also a little bit nervous,” she said.