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From the Lewiston Morning Tribune...
Former UI classmates remember Palin as quiet, bookish
By Joel Mills
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Sarah (Heath) Palin is pictured in the 1987 Gem of the Mountains, the University of Idaho yearbook.
MOSCOW - Talk about coincidence.
"It's crazy," was about all Sara Taft could say Friday morning when Republican presidential candidate John McCain selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, 44, as his running mate.
Taft attended the University of Idaho with Palin when she was Sarah Heath.
And her dad, Denis Taft, went to the Naval Academy with John McCain.
Taft said she didn't know Palin well when they were communications students in the mid-1980s in Moscow, but remembered her because they had similar names.
"That's why it stood out," Taft said from the Seattle area, where she's a human resources manager for a vehicle auction company. "But that's all I could remember."
Denis Taft and McCain also went to flight school together in Pensacola, Fla., she said. "They used to drink beer and eat oysters together."
McCain, an Arizona senator, surprised many when he picked Palin, a relative newcomer to politics who's been in the governor's office for just 20 months.
Brian Long is another Palin classmate who registered shock when McCain made his announcement in Ohio, with Palin, her husband and four of her five children by his side.
"I'm really interested in politics, so I know she'd been mentioned from time to time," said Long, a Coeur d'Alene defense attorney and 1987 UI student body president. "But it did surprise me a little because I always remember her being pretty quiet in class."
Long described himself as a "dyed-in-the-wool Democrat" who wouldn't likely be swayed by Palin's new stature. But if he was a Republican, "I'd probably be gunning for a press secretary position," he joked.
"We always like to see our fellow alums do well," Long added. "But I'm curious to see her debate against (Democratic vice presidential nominee) Joe Biden on foreign policy. She's running with the big dogs now."
Like Palin, Long was born in Sandpoint in 1964. Palin moved to Alaska with her family when she was still a baby, however, while Long was raised in northern Idaho.
Larry Richardson, a real estate broker in Eagle, remembers seeing Sarah Heath's name frequently when they were both UI students because she was involved with so many activities.
"Obviously, she's a smart gal, and that's kind of how I remember her, as being one of those bookworm kind of girls," Richardson said.
As soon as he heard rumors Thursday night that Palin might be McCain's pick, Richardson said he grabbed his 1987 Gem of the Mountains yearbook and found her picture.
Richardson said he has an independent bent in politics with Republican leanings, and saw Palin's selection as a smart move.
"I know why they're using her, because they want to get the female vote, obviously," he said. "I think that's going to help their campaign."
But Palin's lack of national and international experience could also be a weakness, Richardson added.
"It's like a crapshoot," he said. "It's like rolling the dice and saying, 'Let's go for it.' "
Palin graduated in 1987 with a bachelor of science degree in journalism with a broadcast news option and a political science minor, said Kenton Bird, the director of the UI School of Journalism and Mass Media.
Bird said he spoke with several of Palin's former professors two years ago when she was elected governor, but none could offer any firm recollections of her time in Moscow.
The university issued a statement saying Palin was part of its "legacy of leaders."
"University of Idaho alumni are sizable in number, but remain a close-knit community," the statement said. "A large number of university alumni, such as Sarah, have gone on to distinguish themselves in public service."
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