2,000 Fans Turn Out for Carter Book Signing : Personalities: The former President, now in the diplomatic limelight, greets the hordes who buy his new collection of verse.

They came in droves to get a glimpse of him: The ex-President turned house builder, globe-trotting diplomat and now, poet.

Even in this staunchly Republican suburb, Jimmy Carter drew more than 2,000 people to the Super Crown bookstore. Some patrons had waited more than six hours for an appearance by Carter to sign copies of his ninth book, a collection of verse titled “Always a Reckoning.”

“He is a great man. I want my son to meet a President,” said Gnel Melik-Noubarian, a native of the former Soviet Armenia, who brought his son David, 13.

“When I was in the Soviet Union we knew he was a weak President, we could feel it. But he always had good intentions,” he said.

Many of Carter’s fans said that, whatever the verdict on his political record, they admire his generous spirit and human qualities, evident in his efforts on behalf of the poor--including his helping to build houses for low-income people--and his record of defending human rights abroad.

Carter, scheduled to be at the bookstore for only an hour, agreed to stay longer to sign everyone’s books. Flanked by Secret Service agents and store guards, he put down his signature rapidly.

“I really like people. I’m a farmer and a working man deep down, I’m not a celebrity,” Carter said in an interview. He said that poetry--which he has written since high school but pursued seriously only for the past four years--is an exten sion of his private side.

“It offers a lot of self-revelation. You can say things in a poem that you can’t normally say,” he remarked. “It brings out the most truthful, accurate words you can possibly use and opens up a new dimension of thought.”

The poems in “Always a Reckoning” reflect on Carter’s political career and many facets of his life. Some people scanned the book while waiting in line, and a few read aloud.

“I think it’s excellent. These poems are very homespun, beautiful, simple and eloquent--just like Jimmy Carter,” said Pat Warner of Silver Lake.

Employees at the bookstore called it the best-attended signing the store has ever had, surpassing the crowds that turned out for author Mary Higgins Clark, basketball coach Pat Riley and talk-show host Larry King. The store ordered 2,500 copies of Carter’s book for the event, 900 of which were sold by the time the doors opened.

One copy was purchased by Julian Nava, a Cal State Northridge professor who served as Carter’s ambassador to Mexico from 1979 to 1981.

“I just wanted to say hello to him, it has been a while,” Nava said. “The last three Republican Presidents have left office under a cloud of suspicion, but the reputation of President Carter continues to rise. I admire him greatly.”