Sarah Palin memoir due out next year

13 May 2009, 9:38 am   -   Source: AAP
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Former Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin

Former Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin

Former vice presidential contender Sarah Palin will publish a memoir to come out in the US in 2010, the year she is up for re-election as Alaska's governor.

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Former vice presidential contender Sarah Palin will publish a memoir to come out in the United States in Spring 2010, the year she is up for re-election as Alaska's governor.

A Palin book has been rumoured virtually from the time the 2008 election ended.

Although Republicans presidential candidate Senator John McCain and Palin were easily beaten by Democrats Barack Obama and Joseph Biden in November, Palin emerged a favourite among conservatives, an object of tabloid gossip and - as the only candidate in the race who had never written a memoir - a natural for a publishing deal.

Story told 'unfiltered'

"There's been so much written about and spoken about in the mainstream media and in the anonymous blogosphere world, that this will be a wonderful, refreshing chance for me to get to tell my story, that a lot of people have asked about, unfiltered," Palin said during a brief telephone interview on Tuesday with The Associated Press.

Palin's memoir, currently untitled and to be published by HarperCollins, will cover her personal and political life, from her childhood in Alaska and last year's campaign, to her conservative political beliefs and her family life, including the pregnancy of her teenage daughter, Bristol Palin, who gave birth in December to a baby boy, Tripp.

(She and the baby's father, Levi Johnston, have since ended their relationship.)

'Clearing misinterpretations'

"In fairness to my family, this is going be a good opportunity for them, too, because there have been so many misperceptions out there about who we are and what we believe in, and I'm excited to get to put my journalism degree to work and tell my story as it relates to my family," said Palin, 45, who in 1987 graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in journalism.

Palin declined to name any specific misunderstandings and avoided detailed comments about her family, her political aspirations or about the divide in the Republican Party between moderates and conservatives, a divide her vice presidential run helped widen.

The book will be co-released by the HarperCollins imprint Harper and, for the Christian market, by the HarperCollins-owned Zondervan.

Presidential ambition denied

A memoir (or two) have become a virtual requirement for White House seekers, especially after Obama's The Audacity of Hope and Dreams From My Father established him as a stylist and storyteller with a vast following.

Although Palin denied any presidential ambition during Tuesday's interview, she did pick the most presidential of literary representatives, Washington lawyer Robert Barnett, to handle negotiations.

Barnett's clients include Obama and former presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton.

'Multi-million dollar deal'

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Palin was widely expected to get a multimillion-dollar contract. Barnett and Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham both declined to offer details.

Palin will work with a collaborator, to be determined.

"She's obviously going to be engaged in the whole process of the book," said Burnham, adding that the role of the collaborator would depend on who was chosen.

"Every word of the book will be her words," Barnett said.

'Unpretentious lifestyle'

Palin and Burnham said the memoir will emphasise Palin's Alaskan upbringing, and the governor will talk about her "unpretentious" lifestyle.

Burnham described the book as the story of an Alaskan encountering a national audience, "the soccer mom and the political operative, and how one became the other".

Palin has never written a book and her critics, noting her disjointed television interviews, have questioned whether she could. Two years ago, Palin told PBS' Charlie Rose that her favourite writers were CS Lewis ("very, very deep") and a Runner's World magazine columnist, Dr George Sheehan.

Biographies of former politicians

Asked on Tuesday about her reading, Palin mentioned that she "really enjoyed" former Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham's Pulitzer Prize-winning Personal History and cited works by Obama, McCain and Bill Clinton, whose My Life she read "just recently".

"Being a voracious reader, I read a lot today and have read a lot growing up.

"And having that journalism degree, all of that, will be a great assistance for me in writing this book, talking about the challenges and the joys, balancing the work and parenting, and, in my case, work means running the state," Palin said.

"I've read a variety of books, and that helps shape my opinions and my views."

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