'The Rogue' an interesting read

When your name is on Page 2 of a popular book disparaging Alaska, one’s first thought is “Oh boy, this is not going to turn out well.”

Actually, considering the possibilities, Joe McGinniss’ last book — “The Rogue” — wasn’t all that bad. But I must admit that our old friend treated my wife and I fairly well. Things like that tend to influence one’s criticism of the book itself, even if it does tend to derogate a place you have come to love.

For those who — like me — might need to look up the word, “derogate” means to show a critical or disrespectful attitude.

Joe was a good friend from my days as a reporter for a Massachusetts newspaper 55 years ago. My wife and I met and married when we were working at The Worcester Telegram, then decided to set out for Alaska less than a year later.

We had almost settled in New England but decided we wanted to see Alaska before we did. The attraction was primarily its minimally explored wilderness areas, its wild creatures and reputation for high adventure.

Joe was by then a nationally known author in search of ideas for his next book. When he heard about our decision to start our married life on The Last Frontier, he got his publisher’s approval to visit us and write about a state that many Americans knew little about.

This was shortly after the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay and resulted in Joe’s infamous but popular book about Alaska, Going to Extremes.

That book enhanced Joe’s reputation as an author/adventurer though it did little to make the world think better of America’s 49th state. It actually encouraged those who preferred to think of Alaska as a strange place where misbehavior was pretty much expected.

The Rogue is about Alaska’s own Sarah Palin and her adventures with the well-known author when he returned to Alaska in 2008 to take a second look at our state. Going to Extremes had sold well and Joe really enjoyed his time here, giving him a real incentive to relive a nice time from his youth.

Joe McGinniss ruffled many feathers when Going to Extremes was originally published. Fairly typical of the reviews was this comment from The Philadelphia Inquirer: “...a different sort of work from John McPhee’s Coming into the Country. It is a grittier, harder-edged, and more complete picture of what is happening in the ‘real’ Alaska.”

Joe passed away in 2014 at the age of 71 but his last book, full title The Rogue, Searching for the real Sarah Palin, was only published in 2011. I have had the book sitting on a shelf for the last decade and only ventured to read it in the last few weeks.

One of my concerns about the book was that it was written after Joe’s interest in our former governor prompted him to rent the home next door to the Palin’s place in Wasilla. That resulted in criticism heard round the world that McGinniss was invading the Palin family’s privacy and that his presence was intrusive.

The complaints about Joe’s choice of residences were certainly understandable and largely justified. He was indeed invading the Palin family’s privacy and the Palins had a valid beef about his being there.

But it’s hard not to believe that Sarah Palin’s battle with the author was somehow enjoyable to her. Sarah seems to love publicity and her battle with Joe certainly gave her a lot of that, though it was not all complimentary.

I must admit, however, that reading about the struggle from Joe’s perspective gives an interesting side of things. Sarah Palin has given Alaskans yet another reason to shake their heads and wonder what she might come up with next.

She sometimes seems to offer unending entertainment.