By April M. Washington
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

Bill and Hillary Clinton wrapped their arms around Vonda and Michael Shoels on Thursday as if they had known them a lifetime.

There were no lights, no cameras, no spectators.

It just the Clintons and the Shoelses, connecting as parents concerned about the safety and well-being of the nation's youth.

"I found out today that they are real people," said Michael Shoels, the father of 18-year-old Isaiah Shoels, one of 13 slain Columbine High School shooting victims. "The condolences they shared were genuine. The Clintons didn't come here for show."

Neither did the Shoelses. They capitalized on the rare meeting by giving Clinton a letter from the family that urged the president to join their crusade "against violence and hate."

The Shoelses also called upon the president to push for stronger gun laws and tougher hate-crime legislation.

Isaiah Shoels was the only black among those killed by two teen-age gunmen who opened fire in the school April 20 and boasted of targeting minorities. The family plans to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against Columbine and the parents of the gunmen, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17.

"I told him we should take this tragedy and use it as tool to change things. We need to hold teachers and parents responsible for overlooking problems and rearing hate-ongers," Shoels said several hours after meeting with the president at Light of the World Catholic Church.

"He told me he would respond to my letter personally. Then he put it in his pocket so he wouldn't forget it."

The exchange between the Clintons and Shoels at times became intense as Shoels read the letter aloud to the president.

The president bristled, Shoels said, when he compared the bombing in Kosovo to the shootings at Columbine.

"We must demonstrate by our actions that violence is not America's bottom-line, problem-solving solution," the letter said. "Our children are watching us. Those who made the pipe bombs may well have cheered your bombs dropping over Kosovo and Yugoslavia."

Shoels said his intent wasn't to criticize NATO military action but to promote nonviolent solutions in solving disagreements.

Vonda Shoels used a little kick to remind her husband not to spoil the moment.

"Michael got kind of loud there for a moment," she said. "Hillary looked at me and said, 'Men need a kick in the butt every once in a while."'

The Shoelses and their four children were taken to meet the president in a white, stretch limousine provided by MSNBC and CNN in exchange for interviews.

"The whole experience was neat," said the Shoelses' daughter, Michelle, 15. "I just wish we could have met the president under better circumstances. I wish my brother could have been there.

"I just hope the president can do something that can stop this from happening again."