I spent a fascinating morning with Hickel this past summer, in the office of his downtown Anchorage landmark, the Captain Cook Hotel, and he was every bit as dignified and gracious as he was when I first encountered him 35 years earlier in Anchorage, then a raw and wild oil town.
As he approached his 90th birthday, his grip was still strong and his "boomer" vision of Alaska remained his passion. A former boxer, he looked like he could still go a few rounds and I wouldn't want to cross him. He may have lost some of his intellectual edge after nine decades, but his spirit remained undaunted, his eyes bright, particularly when his bride of 67 years, Ermalee, later joined us in the conversation.
Hickel was still pushing his vision of an "owner state"--articulated in his book Crisis in the Commons: The Alaska Solution--and he remained upbeat about the possibilities facing Alaska. He was convinced that the "Age of the Arctic" was still ahead and he still believed in "big ideas."
But when I asked Hickel about then governor Sarah Palin, his disposition turned hard.
Geoffrey Dunn met a lot of influential Alaskan people while he was up here last summer, which is when I also met him (not that I am in that category), and he had plenty of interesting tales to tell of people who had crossed paths with Sarah Palin and suffered from the experience.
I am sure that some version of this interview with Wally Hickel will show up in Geoffrey's book " The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power", along with many, many others.
But for those who are feeling impatient and bummed that Dunn's book will not be in bookstores until February, perhaps reading this post will help to take the edge off.
"...had plenty of interesting tales to tell of people who had crossed paths with Sarah Palin..."
ReplyDeleteThe pool of people crossed by Palin is growing by the day. May the tales become a torrent that will make the USA safer from Palin.
I am one of 'those anxiously awaiting' for this book from Geoffrey Dunn.
ReplyDeleteI just went into Amazon and pre-ordered, for whenever it becomes available. :o)
Thanks, Gryph, for the link -- and for all you do. Have a happy evening, and nice next week.
Hickel actually thought that Rogue Sarah would take his advice and listen to reason. Hickel did not know Sari only listens to the little voices inside her head that she calls god!
ReplyDeleteAnd sarah's god said:
Sarah pretenend to have a baby, and Ruffles was born!
Sarah's god said, that baby has unsightly ears:
And Trig appeared!!!
And then Sarahs god gave her wings for her book signing tour.
It is the true miracles of Sarah Palin to which we speak.
It is an injustice that a visionary man of accomplishment has to have an opinion at all about that know-nothing, do-nothing pretender.
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin should have remained within the wall-eyed view of the Valley forever.
Agreed, anon @ 7:34. It's a shame that Governor Hickel had to even clutter his brain with thoughts or opinions of this harridan.
ReplyDeletePlease explain this "Valley" to the rest of us. What could possibly be going on there, that the people who have the 'dirt' on $$arah won't open up? Do they have any idea the carnage Palin is causing in the Lower 48? They have the ability to stop it!
Personally, I'd like to know more about the missing birth records (a fire?), the death of a nurse, the burning of a garage & death of a man's dog. And isn't there a legal way to have Dr. Cathy Baldwin-Johnson be forced to tell the truth? Consider me an alarmist if you wish, but the situation is preposterous and out of control. There are people who can stop it, and Gryphen and others are doing their level best.
Months are going by, scenarios replayed over and over, $$arah keeps raking in the dough, yet the divisive rhetoric from $P continues. I can't stand it, I tell ya...I can't stand it.
Gryphen - This site does not function at all with any version of IE. You have to be losing viewers in droves. I just posted a long comment, and it disappeared.
ReplyDeleteAll I wanted to ask about is the "Valley". The information bottled up there must be huge. The Lower 48 is screaming for these people to let out what they know. $$arah Palin is running through our Country with a flaming scythe, and no one is stopping her. Does anyone in this "Valley" understand this? There are over 350,000,000 people who need to know the truth.
STEP BACK KIDS...the gravy train is about to derail!!
ReplyDeleteNow, that is one book about SP that I will be looking forward to reading. I usually opt out due to the nausea and seen one sociopath seen em all factors. This kind of book which discusses all the people she has harmed helps educate the public. What we need people to understand about not just public officials or corporate tyrants who are sociopaths and workplace bullies(of which she is both) is first how to identify them, the knowledge that they are dangerous to our health, our country, and careers, and that it is extrememly important to identify them early so they don't get into positions with a lot of power.
ReplyDeleteLast year I called Wally and in the course of the conversation I asked him what his thoughts were on Sarah. He answered "Well, Sarah has been a disappointment."
ReplyDeleteRest in peace Wally. You were the REAL deal not some bimbo cheechako.
Oh, I think you want to turn off italics beginning with "Geoffrey Dunn met a lot of influential Alaskan people while he was up here last summer ... "
ReplyDeleteOn her Twitter page, Palin, or one of her writers, posted:-
ReplyDelete"Upon his passing,we honor Gov Walter Hickel's life,he made real difference in the world.Unsurpassed impacts on Alaska,the Arctic&her people".
I run Windows7 IE8. That combination is giving me no problems using this site.
ReplyDeletePRIOR POST: . What could possibly be going on there, that the people who have the 'dirt' on $$arah won't open up? Do they have any idea the carnage Palin is causing in the Lower 48? They have the ability to stop it!
ReplyDeleteRESPONSE: I'm not so sure the problem is no one in Wasilla is willing to talk. Some have talked, starting with Ann during the campaign. For some reason, that I assume has something to do with money and/or power, the MSM doesn't want to report, or can't report.
I wonder if there's a blockage between the leather on the streets and the print on the page.
It does seem that people are afraid to talk to some extent; I'm not negating that. Otherwise Grphyn would have spilled more. And yet, they are talking to some extent. But even what we know isn't being reported, and that speaks of a blockage in the system, not silence by all Alaskans.
Any comment, Gryphen?
Wally Hickel urged her "to rise above the worn-out, negative tactics of presidential politics and assume the role of stateswoman." To me, this statement says it all about what I look for in a national leader --- a Stateswoman! There are so many notable examples both in the US and globally. Side by side pictures of any of them and Ms. P would immediately illustrate that Ms. P is absolutely out of her element and Pale-ins in comparison to the point of being simply ludicrous.Wally
ReplyDeleteWally fell out with Sarah over the gas line. He felt that since he 'put her in power,' she should do what he wanted. He wanted the Valdez LNG line because he would make more money. She realized that such a line would be very expensive and that Congress would be unlikely to approve a project whose primary purpose would be to ship American gas - and jobs - to China and Korea.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gryphen. REALLY looking forward to Dunn's book.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting about the big press blitz in the last week or so--Bristol on a lot of the talk shows, the weekend spread with family pictures, etc. Wonder what they are preemptively defending themselves against? And what's with Bristol's sudden weight gain--hope this isn't round three since she has a steady BF and doesn't seem to belive in birth control (only abstinence or the inevitable "consequences".....)
Palin honors Hickel "upon his passing". On Twitter, no less!
ReplyDeleteWow. That must have been as difficult as me posting this comment!
It would be interesting to see the list of people who Sarah has not screwed over.
ReplyDelete1. Screwed over Todd, there is the issue of Track's father.
2. Screwed over current Trig, he was used as a political prop and now that the VP gig is over so is Round Ear Trig. RETrig (Round Ear Trig) is Piper's responsibility. Also no parenting.
3. Screwed the first Trig, his days were over when Round Ear Trig was ready to be introduced to the world. Nobody (except Sarah) knows where Ruffles is. Definitely no parenting.
4. Screwed Bristol, mom was to worried about mom's image and screw Bristol, Sarah wanted to adopt Tripp. No parenting here either, was allowed to run free until there was a bun in the oven.
5. Screwed Willow. Willow was allowed to run wild like Track and Bristol and mom won't let her grow up and take her punishment for Breaking and Entering - no parenting.
6. Screwed over Piper. Piper is being groomed like the rest of her kids with no parenting and education. With the money Sarah got from grifting, there may be some hope of an education because mom is paying somebody to educate Piper. Still no parenting.
7. Screwed over America, no explanation needed.
The only person Sarah has not screwed over is Sarah. She is just having a ball at her family's and America’s expense.
Yes Sarah Palin "lost her ethical compass" and the really sad thing is she doesn't even care because of all the money she is raking in. Rest in peace Governor Hickel; Alaska has lost a great statesman.
ReplyDeleteWhen is Sarah Palin going to learn that impact(s) is not a verb. She's such a moron.
ReplyDeleteAnon @7:04 AM: "she realized"... are you saying she is an energy expert and she is trying to advocate for responsible resource utilization (you know, a process wherein the environment doesn't get messed up and jobs stay in America). You do know what organization her husband belonged to, don't you? "It would be very expensive"... she had no problem taking the money for the "bridge to nowhere." Do you think she cares about anyone else and about jobs being shipped anywhere? What Kool aid do you drink? People here are not fooled by BS (Beautiful Sarah... Thank you Malia Litman!)
ReplyDeleteAnon @7:04 AM: "she realized that such a line would be very expensive..."
ReplyDeleteShe probably realized that promising $500,000,000. to a foreign entity charged with facilitating the building of a NG pipeline to the lower 48, but which entity had NO access to the product or the source, was probably even more expensive and exponentially more of a risk.
But the time frame for completion was beyond her in-state political ambitions, so she probably figured there was no risk to HER.
As it turns out, the foreign entity may build that Valdez pipeline to serve the lower-48 and other countries anyway, with spurs serving SE Alaska utilities.
http://www.adn.com/2010/04/29/1256993/gas-line-bidding-to-test-market.html
God, that woman is an idiot.
ReplyDelete"lost her ethical compass" How the hell can you lose something you never had? Wally sounds like he was taken in by her beauty and was pissed when she became more than he could "handle". She threw him over like the old fart he was and left him high and dry. As a wise old statesman, shouldn't he have been smart enough to see her for what she really was. Stars blinded the old coot and now we ALL pay for it.
ReplyDelete