ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Sarah Palin can take down the fence.
Author Joe McGinniss, Palin’s neighbor of three months on Wasilla’s Lake Lucille, is packing his bags and notebooks and leaving today for his home in Massachusetts to write the book he has been researching on the former governor and GOP vice presidential candidate.
His arrival in May made headlines and drew an indignant reaction from Palin and a visit from her husband, Todd. The Palins even tacked an extension onto an 8-foot board fence between the homes, leaving only a part of their second-story home visible from McGinniss’ driveway.
Peeping into windows or peering through knotholes was never part of his research, McGinniss said.
“I’ve been very busy, but on Lake Lucille it’s been very quiet,” he said. “As I told Todd back in May — he came over to get in my face about moving in there — I said, ‘You’re not even going to know I’m there. A lot of the time, I’m not going to be here. And when I am, I mind my own business.” And that’s how it has played out, he said.
A Palin spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail Saturday seeking comment from the former governor.
McGinniss said he didn’t seek out the rental home. The homeowner sought him, he said, and the price was right. Anybody wanting to spy on the Palins would be better off in a boat, he added.
McGinniss said he didn’t have a single unpleasant encounter with anybody in Wasilla.
“They started bringing me blueberry pie. I had many offers of handguns to borrow.”
