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Gore Apologizes for Confusion Over ‘Love Story’

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Vice President Al Gore acknowledged Sunday a “miscommunication” in leading reporters to believe he and his wife were the model for the ‘70s romance novel “Love Story.”

The author, Erich Segal, told the New York Times he was “befuddled” by the comments. He said he called Gore, who told him it was a misunderstanding.

On Sunday, Gore spokeswoman Ginny Terzano borrowed a line from the book in apologizing.

“If love means never having to say you’re sorry, then politics means you have to say it all the time,” Terzano said.

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Segal said he got to know Gore and his roommate, actor Tommy Lee Jones, during a 1968 sabbatical at Harvard. Jones got his acting break with a small part in the film version of Segal’s book.

When creating Oliver Barrett IV, Segal said, Jones inspired the side that was “the tough, macho guy who’s a poet at heart.” Gore was the basis for the side that had a controlling father whose footsteps he was pressured to follow, he said.

Segal said he knew Tipper Gore, then a Boston University student, but she wasn’t the basis for Barrett’s love interest, Jenny Cavilleri.

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