Governor Palin has signed a deal with Harper Collins to write her memoir (Cockerham, 2009, ¶1). The amount of money involved in the deal has not been disclosed (Cockerham, 2009, ¶3), but it will be disclosed in required annual financial disclosures to be filed in March 2010 (Cockerham, 2009, ¶5). The Governor will have a collaborator, but will do most of the writing herself and in her own words. The book is expected to be published in Spring 2010 (Cockerham, 2009, ¶6). The Governor “hired Robert Barnett, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who is one of the most powerful figures in book publishing, to negotiate the deal for her memoir (Cockerham, 2009, ¶9).
Governor Palin will be writing her book on her own time and off state property, much of it derived from existing journals (Cockerham, 2009, ¶16). A faith-oriented version of the book will be published by Harper Collins subsidiary Zondervan (which published the excellent Sarah Palin a New Kind of Leader by Joe Hilley) (Cockerham, 2009, ¶17).
Governor Palin’s book was approved by an Alaska Department of Law ruling. “The department concluded a book contract isn’t employment, because it’s not regular work for a salary or wage. State employees are allowed to provide services for their own financial benefit as long as it’s on their own time, does not conflict with their official duties and does not involve using state equipment or resources, said the legal opinion, signed by deputy attorney general Richard Svobodny” (Cockerham, 2009, ¶22).
Commentary
Just about every political leader of any import has written a book to include numerous foreign leaders. Obama wrote not one but two memoirs for which he allegedly garnered $9 million. Governor Palin has the absolute right to author a memoir — and what a memoir it will be.Her non-political life will probably prove to be the most interesting. This is the story of someone who is arguably the last living American Pioneer. To read about her childhood spent on the Last Frontier — the moose hunts, those stormy days on Todd’s fishing boat all the way through her rise to power and her concurrent family life — in the words of the person who actually lived it, complete with those minor but significant details — that’s going to be a book you can’t put down.
This amazing woman has accomplished more in her 45 years than most us (to include this blog author) ever will do in an entire lifetime. However much this deal is worth, she is deserving of every penny and then some. For those critics who think otherwise, they can walk a mile in her pumps (or construction boots, or sneakers, or whatever else Governor Palin puts on her feet to get the job done in any given circumstance) and write about it.
References
Cockerham, S. (2009, May 12). Palin signs to write book for HarperCollins by 2010. Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved May 13, 2009 from: http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/793061.html
Follow Ron Devito on Twitter
Friend Ron Devito on Facebook
