Some know her as the chatty blonde in the short skirts on the morning talk show “Fox & Friends,” but E.D. Hill is also an author.

In her new book, Going Places: How America’s Best and Brightest Got Started Down the Road of Life, Hill asked politicians (mostly Republicans) and celebrities to write pieces of advice that have made a difference in their lives. Hill comments on each of the contributors and describes what inspired her to become a television star.

Hill’s 306 pages contain some interesting admissions: Donald Rumsfeld’s blue eyes make her “weak in the knees,” and she counts Fox’s Bill O’Reilly as the person she turns to when making the most sensitive decisions of her life. Renegade journalist Geraldo Rivera is also among her closest confidants.

Each of them contributes a chapter in the book.

Forget about fair and balanced. The Fox host spends much of her new book gushing about Republicans while gnashing her teeth at Democrats. In one of her few nods toward Democrats, she declares her “love” for former Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.), who provides an inspirational chapter in the book.

Of course, Miller is no liberal. As the keynote speaker at the 2004 GOP convention, Miller blasted then-presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

And in an indication of her conservative bent, she writes of Miller, “Today, some Democrats call him crazy. If he is, I’m in his loony bin.”

If you can endure cutesy forwards such as that, which she contributes at the onset of each chapter — don’t skip them; they can be so grating that they’re funny — there is much to be enjoyed.

Her book offers inspirational, sometimes shocking personal accounts from an interesting cast of politicians and B-list celebrities. Hill’s original purpose for her book was to create something meaningful to read to her children, she says, so she asked her cast of characters to share the pieces of advice and wisdom that affected them most.

Sen. Miller recalls a phrase he heard from his mother all his life and repeats to his children and grandchildren. “Take what you want, sayeth the Lord — take it and pay for it,” his mother would counsel him. Until he reached adulthood, Miller believed the phrase came from the Bible, but he later learned that it was his mother’s personal scripture.

Miller’s translation is that there is always a price to pay for anything you want and that you must work hard to get it. He discusses the wilder years of his life that led him to join the Marines, at one point drinking so much moonshine that he ran his car into a ditch and wrecked it. He says the Marines picked up where his mother left off.

Then there is Sen. Mel Martinez’s (R-Fla.) touching account of a childhood spent in foster homes and Sen. George Allen’s (R-Va.) folksy charm — Hill is taken by how “genuine” and “un-Washington” the ex-governor seems for a politician. There are also inspirational insights from Randy Jackson of “American Idol” and Donny Osmond.

Allen discusses his French Tunisian mother and how the Nazis imprisoned her grandfather during World War II. When his family faced setbacks, he writes, his mother would always say, “Well, at least the bombs aren’t falling,” which led to his lifelong philosophy “that as long as you stay alive, you keep fighting.”

Hill contends that the stereotypes regarding President Bush’s intellect are false. His chapter is among the shortest. In his two paragraphs, he says the biggest piece of advice he has benefited from is “broaden your horizons.” In early 1973, he was talking with his father on whether to attend Harvard Business School after having graduated from Yale five years earlier. The elder Bush instructed his son to “seize the opportunity to continue learning.” He writes that he can still hear his father saying “broaden your horizons,” a piece of wisdom the president says he still carries with him today.

Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) also stands out. Hill hails him as an interesting figure for challenging House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) despite the fact that he was sure to lose.

Ford speaks of his St. Albans track coach, Skip Grant, as a figure who gave him invaluable advice early on. While Ford was running a loop one day, his coach noticed that Ford only began running fast when the coach could see.

“You shouldn’t just run fast when you’re in front of me,” the coach told young Ford. “Run hard, even if you’re in last place at the finish. Run hard when people aren’t looking.”

Ford says he has taken the advice into his political life, campaigning at the grassroots level when no one thought he could do it and when no one was looking.

Another interesting figure in the book is ex-talk-show host Kathie Lee Gifford. Once a popular figure on “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee,” Gifford discusses her decision to leave the show and recalls advice that her father had given her: “Honey if you can do something with your eyes closed, it’s time to try something new.”

Gifford says that she was no longer challenged creatively by the show and that her father’s words gave her the strength to leave.

Actor and former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) also has a chapter in the book, and the contents could be considered a slap in the face to the concept of the book. His best advice comes from an unnamed friend, a Missouri politician who was running for judge.

The friend visited President Harry Truman for advice on his campaign. Truman advised, “My advice, young man, is to not waste your time going around asking for advice from people like me.”

ABOUT THE BOOK
Going Places
How America’s Best and Brightest Got Started Down the Road of Life
By E.D. Hill
Regan Books, 2005
320 pages, $26.95