March 1, 2007 - Meet the Capitol's literary legislators

Meet the Capitol's literary legislators

By Malcolm Maclachlan
Published March 1st, 2007

In California, Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, is a minority party assemblyman. In Taiwan, he's a defender of democracy, and in China he's a running dog of American imperialism.

"I've gotten hate mail from Beijing," DeVore said. "One of them started out, 'You white pig.'"

The reason is his 2001 novel, China Attacks. Written with sinologist Steven Mosher, it chronicles just that: China launching an assault on Taiwan, as the pair predict it may do someday.

DeVore isn't the only writer in the Assembly. In 2003, freshman Mary Hayashi, D-Hayward, penned Far From Home, a memoir that recounts her founding of the National Asian Women's Health Organization. Subtitled Shattering the Myth of the Model Minority, it details health problems that Asian Americans suffer disproportionately, such as depression.

The book originally was intended to be a kind of wonky policy piece. But Hayashi said that her editors at Tapestry Press, a boutique academic publisher, kept asking her to put in more of her own story. By the time they were done, it had morphed into a political memoir that laid bare one of the most devastating experiences of her life: her older sister's suicide at the age of 17.

"It was a struggle," Hayashi said. "I really didn't want to recap that incident."

Those are just two of the most recent examples of the at least half dozen authors in the Legislature. For most of these authors, writing is a sideline for their "real" careers in politics, and perhaps a way to dispel the negative stereotype some people hold of detail-averse legislators whose staffs do all the real work.

But, as Hayashi's book shows, it can also be a way to process difficult experiences. This is also the case for former Senator Jackie Speier, who termed out last year. She joins the list of published former legislators this month as one of four authors of This Isn't the Life I Ordered: 50 Ways to Keep Your Head Above Water When Life Keeps Dragging You Down. This isn't Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. Speier writes about her husband being killed by a red-light runner while she was pregnant in 1994, and about being shot five times and left for dead on a runway in Guyana during the 1978 Jonestown Massacre.

The most prolific author currently in the Legislature is probably Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton. The chair of the Black Legislative Caucus, he penned The Black Politician: His Struggle for Power in 1971. Working with University of North Carolina Central University professor Jeffrey Elliott, he went on to write three more books in the 1980s and 1990s.

Two of these grew out of 25.5 hours of interviews with Fidel Castro that Dymally taped on two visits to Cuba in 1985. Some of this material first saw light in a Playboy interview with Castro that Dymally penned that year. The famously superstitious Castro insisted that it run in the August issue.

Dymally said that his meetings with Castro followed a predicable pattern. He would wait around the hotel all day for a phone call, which wouldn't come until 10 or 11 p.m. Then a car would come get him and Castro would pontificate to him until 3 a.m. A congressman at the time, Dymally had to leave at one point to cast a vote on the MX missile program, but then he rushed back.

The only time the normally loquacious Castro clammed up was when Dymally casually asked if he had a girlfriend.

"None of your damn business," Castro replied, puffing on a cigar.

Over in the senate there's Jack Scott, D-Altadena, a former college president and Pepperdine University professor. In 1981 he edited a book of essays by John Witherspoon, one of the least-known signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Scott's book stands out among works by legislators because it entirely predates his political career. But another legislative scribe strays the furthest from politics. In case you were wondering which legislator you'd want with you if you were stranded on a mountain, it would definitely be Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, D-San Diego.

A former guide who has led teams up Mt. Whitney, Saldaña worked for REI from 1988 to 1992. At the request of the publishers at Mountain N' Air books, in 1995 she wrote, appropriately, Lori Saldaña's Backpacking Primer. Intended to be a guide on the basics for novice outdoors enthusiasts, the publisher was picturing a branded and regularly updated series of books--hence her name in the title.
But by the late 1990s, Saldaña had moved on to technology work, and later into politics. She said she still loves the outdoors; her favorite spot is in Baja California, on a portion of the Pacific Coast frequented by gray whales. She can still name by sight many of the Sierra peaks she passes over in airplanes in her work as a legislator. But she rarely get outdoors that much these days.

"I just don't have the time anymore," Saldaña said. "If I have a chance to go out for a walk, that's about the extent of my free time."

Other legislators have stuck with more straightforward political works, such as the 60-page campaign autobiographies penned by two Richie Ross clients. Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City, wrote The Best Ideas in 2004, while Jose Solario, D-Anaheim, authored Lessons I've Learned as part of his successful campaign last year.

Speier, meanwhile, has joined and long list of legislators who've done books after long careers in the California Legislature. The best-known includes 1987's A Disorderly House: The Brown-Unruh Years in Sacramento by Jim Mills, who served nearly half of his two decades in the Legislature as Senate pro tem. Then there's John Vasconcellos. Perhaps best known as a founder of the self-esteem movement, he served 38 years in the state Legislature. In 1979, he combined these two interests into the book A Liberating Vision: Politics for Growing Humans.

Even Dymally's output doesn't match that of H.L. Richardson, a Republican who served 22 years in the Senate and went on to found Gun Owners of America. He's got six works listed on www.amazon.com, some of which are mystery novels. But he's probably best known for his cheeky 1978 political memoir What Makes You Think We Read the Bills?

Still, Devore is a bigger writing celebrity--in Taiwan anyway, where he has appeared on television several times. After originally failing to find a publisher, he and Mosher self-published China Attacks and have gone on to sell around 15,000 copies. At least two-thirds of these were in Taiwan. In fact, given that country's spotty record of copyright enforcement, Devore said, he may have sold far more than that. On a visit to the country in 2003, he saw copies of the book he never authorized.

DeVore, who worked in the Pentagon under Reagan, said he doesn't care that much as long as the book is being read. And it's well read, he said, in Taiwan's military and intelligence agencies. Though he said he is especially gratified when a TV interview or events in the news push greater interest of his book in this country.

"I think I was No. 73 on Amazon for an hour," DeVore said. "It was one of the happiest days of my life."

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Meet the Capitol's literary legislators

By Malcolm Maclachlan Published March 1st, 2007 In California, Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, is a minority party assemblyman. In Taiwan, he's a defender of democracy, and in China he's a running dog of American imperialism. "I've gotten hate mail from Beijing," DeVore said. "One of them started out, 'You white pig.'" The reason is his 2001 novel, China Attacks. Written with sinologist Steven Mosher, it chronicles just that: China launching an assault on Taiwan, as the pair predict it may do someday. DeVore isn't the only writer in the Assembly. In 2003, freshman Mary Hayashi, D-Hayward, penned Far From Home, a memoir that recounts her founding of the National Asian Women's Health Organization. Subtitled Shattering the Myth of the Model Minority, it details health problems that Asian Americans suffer disproportionately, such as depression. The book originally was intended to be a kind of wonky policy piece. But Hayashi said that her editors at Tapestry Press, a boutique academic publisher, kept asking her to put in more of her own story. By the time they were done, it had morphed into a political memoir that laid bare one of the most devastating experiences of her life: her older sister's suicide at the age of 17. "It was a struggle," Hayashi said. "I really didn't want to recap that incident." Those are just two of the most recent examples of the at least half dozen authors in the Legislature. For most of these authors, writing is a sideline for their "real" careers in politics, and perhaps a way to dispel the negative stereotype some people hold of detail-averse legislators whose staffs do all the real work. But, as Hayashi's book shows, it can also be a way to process difficult experiences. This is also the case for former Senator Jackie Speier, who termed out last year. She joins the list of published former legislators this month as one of four authors of This Isn't the Life I Ordered: 50 Ways to Keep Your Head Above Water When Life Keeps Dragging You Down. This isn't Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. Speier writes about her husband being killed by a red-light runner while she was pregnant in 1994, and about being shot five times and left for dead on a runway in Guyana during the 1978 Jonestown Massacre. The most prolific author currently in the Legislature is probably Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton. The chair of the Black Legislative Caucus, he penned The Black Politician: His Struggle for Power in 1971. Working with University of North Carolina Central University professor Jeffrey Elliott, he went on to write three more books in the 1980s and 1990s. Two of these grew out of 25.5 hours of interviews with Fidel Castro that Dymally taped on two visits to Cuba in 1985. Some of this material first saw light in a Playboy interview with Castro that Dymally penned that year. The famously superstitious Castro insisted that it run in the August issue. Dymally said that his meetings with Castro followed a predicable pattern. He would wait around the hotel all day for a phone call, which wouldn't come until 10 or 11 p.m. Then a car would come get him and Castro would pontificate to him until 3 a.m. A congressman at the time, Dymally had to leave at one point to cast a vote on the MX missile program, but then he rushed back. The only time the normally loquacious Castro clammed up was when Dymally casually asked if he had a girlfriend. "None of your damn business," Castro replied, puffing on a cigar. Over in the senate there's Jack Scott, D-Altadena, a former college president and Pepperdine University professor. In 1981 he edited a book of essays by John Witherspoon, one of the least-known signers of the Declaration of Independence. Scott's book stands out among works by legislators because it entirely predates his political career. But another legislative scribe strays the furthest from politics. In case you were wondering which legislator you'd want with you if you were stranded on a mountain, it would definitely be Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, D-San Diego. A former guide who has led teams up Mt. Whitney, Saldaña worked for REI from 1988 to 1992. At the request of the publishers at Mountain N' Air books, in 1995 she wrote, appropriately, Lori Saldaña's Backpacking Primer. Intended to be a guide on the basics for novice outdoors enthusiasts, the publisher was picturing a branded and regularly updated series of books--hence her name in the title. But by the late 1990s, Saldaña had moved on to technology work, and later into politics. She said she still loves the outdoors; her favorite spot is in Baja California, on a portion of the Pacific Coast frequented by gray whales. She can still name by sight many of the Sierra peaks she passes over in airplanes in her work as a legislator. But she rarely get outdoors that much these days. "I just don't have the time anymore," Saldaña said. "If I have a chance to go out for a walk, that's about the extent of my free time." Other legislators have stuck with more straightforward political works, such as the 60-page campaign autobiographies penned by two Richie Ross clients. Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City, wrote The Best Ideas in 2004, while Jose Solario, D-Anaheim, authored Lessons I've Learned as part of his successful campaign last year. Speier, meanwhile, has joined and long list of legislators who've done books after long careers in the California Legislature. The best-known includes 1987's A Disorderly House: The Brown-Unruh Years in Sacramento by Jim Mills, who served nearly half of his two decades in the Legislature as Senate pro tem. Then there's John Vasconcellos. Perhaps best known as a founder of the self-esteem movement, he served 38 years in the state Legislature. In 1979, he combined these two interests into the book A Liberating Vision: Politics for Growing Humans. Even Dymally's output doesn't match that of H.L. Richardson, a Republican who served 22 years in the Senate and went on to found Gun Owners of America. He's got six works listed on www.amazon.com, some of which are mystery novels. But he's probably best known for his cheeky 1978 political memoir What Makes You Think We Read the Bills? Still, Devore is a bigger writing celebrity--in Taiwan anyway, where he has appeared on television several times. After originally failing to find a publisher, he and Mosher self-published China Attacks and have gone on to sell around 15,000 copies. At least two-thirds of these were in Taiwan. In fact, given that country's spotty record of copyright enforcement, Devore said, he may have sold far more than that. On a visit to the country in 2003, he saw copies of the book he never authorized. DeVore, who worked in the Pentagon under Reagan, said he doesn't care that much as long as the book is being read. And it's well read, he said, in Taiwan's military and intelligence agencies. Though he said he is especially gratified when a TV interview or events in the news push greater interest of his book in this country. "I think I was No. 73 on Amazon for an hour," DeVore said. "It was one of the happiest days of my life."
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