Joe McGinniss Spills on Summer in Wasilla

When Joe McGinniss moved in next door to the Palins on Wasilla's Lake Lucille, "Mama Grizzly" was furious. But, McGinniss claims, the rest of the town welcomed him. He's heading home to Massachusetts today to write his book, and talks to the AP about Palin's politics and the "undercurrent of fear" that grips her hometown. Some highlights:

• On his welcome to Wasilla: The locals "started bringing me blueberry pie," he recalls. "I had many offers of handguns to borrow. I turned them all down."
  

• On Sarah Palin and her fans: "She presses a button and what comes back is hate," McGinniss says. "The people who respond when she complains about something are just so filled with hate."
• On Palin's neighbors: "There are people up there who are scared to death to talk because if Sarah ever found out they talked, oh, something terrible would happen to them."
• His advice to would-be snoops: Don't bother renting. "They live in a place where anybody who wants to look onto their property, all they have to do is get a boat and park 10 yards off shore." But, he adds: "I don't know who would want to do that."

To read more about his summer adventure, click here.
(More Wasilla stories.)