Going Rogue: An American Life (125 page)

up the new Parks Highway we got

a much-needed caribou and carried

it back to Wasilla atop the trunk of

our old blue Rambler. Dad would

offer a quarter to whichever kid first

spotted a moose or caribou. Everyone must have had better eyes than I did because I rarely got that quarter.

Courtesy Chuck Heath

MIDDLE: Molly, Heather, and I with

our wonderful family dog, Rufus, a

faithful companion and protector for

thirteen years.
Courtesy Chuck Heath

BOTTOM: Dad shows our Skagway

neighbor Blythe, and Heather, me,

and Chuck Jr. , how to skin a harbor

seal. It was legal to harvest the seals

for their meat until the Marine

Mammal Protection Act of

1972 banned hunting them (a 1994

amendment allowed for hunting by

Alaska Natives). Grandma Sheeran

sewed coats and mittens for us out of

the hides.
Courtesy

Heath

Growing up, I was of the mind that

basketball was life and the rest was

just details. I was cocaptain and point

guard of the Wasilla Warriors 1982

State Championship team. It was a

season that changed my life.
Courtesy

Jackie Conn

BELOW LEFT: My fellow track teammates Katy Port, Chris KoenemanTriplett, and Kim “Tilly” Ketchum standing in front of me in our school

parking lot, where we had to practice

all events during spring breakup seasons .
Courtesy Chuck Heath
Our state cross-country running meet was held in the snow at Settlers Bay Golf Course . Dad and Dan Giffen were our coaches and inspired us to be not only determined runners but good students too. The whole team was on the honor roll. I’m in the first row, far left; Heather is the blonde on the far right. Behind us are Lincoln Fischer, Rocky Moreland, Benny Welch, Elwyn Fischer, Curtis Menard, Darin Swift, Grant Smith. In front stand Dena Ludington, Marie Carter, Chris Erickson, Michelle Carney, and Karen Bush.
Courtesy Chuck Heath

May 1982. Todd and I walked together in

Warrior colors at Wasi lla High School’s

graduation ceremony. Twenty-eight years

later, we’re still walking together, but

maybe have picked up the pace a bit.

Courtesy Jim Palin

LEFT: Graduation day, 1987, at the

University of Idaho. I loved my years in

college as a Vandal but was ready to return

to Alaska and get busy on a fulltime career.

This picture is in front of “The Tower,” an all-girls dorm where I lived for three years.

Courtesy Anna DeLaCueva

RIGHT: Spring of 1982 . I’m standing in front of the rig that Todd took great care of-his 1972 Ford Mustang Grande, which he bought from his hip grandma in Oregon , Margaret Denny. And I’m sure I looked pretty hip in the Members Only

jacket I borrowed from Todd for this

picture .
Courtesy Faye Palin

My group of lifelong girlfriends, the “Elite 6”-as we jokingly refer to ourselves, because we’re anything but “elite.” I’m on the far left, and special needs assistant Patti Ricker sits by me.

ext are EMT/ambulance driver Sandy Hoeft and personal trainer Juanita Fuller. On the floor are investigator Amy Hansen and food bank volunteer and election poll coordinator Deb Remus. We’ve been through tragedies and triumphs, births and deaths-together. They’re trustworthy, faithful, down-toearth
true
friends, and they help keep me grounded despite the politics that constantly swirl.
Courtesy Deb Remus On July Fourth, 1994, while visiting

the Menards, I take to kayaking on

Memory Lake with Bristol and Chuck

Jr. to try to kick up the contractions.

Baby Willow was overdue, and I

thought it would be great for her to be

born on the Fourth ofJuly, but alas,

I must not have paddled hard enough

because she wasn’t born until the next

day.
Courtesy Linda Menard

LEFT: Here

ick Carney and I

take the ·oath of office as we’re

sworn in as Wasilla City Councilmen in City Hall, in 1992. Finance Director Erling Nelson

administered the oath. I used to

babysit Erling’s kids when I was

a teenager.
Courtesy Todd Palin

R I GHT: After serving my first term on

the City Council, I was ree lected in

1995 to serve another term, before I ran

for mayor. It was a pleasure serving my

hometown, and I wouldn’t trade the

experience for much of anything.

CourtesyJudy Patrick

BOTTOM: Our 1996 campaign for mayor

took to Palmer’s Alaska State Fair parade

right before the local elections.

Our campaign theme, “Positive-ly

Palin,” was delivered with pink and green

signs-because no one else ever used

those colors .
Courtesy Heather Bruce