Palin returns to birthplace for signing

Sarah Palin waves while holding her son Trig at a book
signing for her new book "Going Rogue" at the Mall of
America in Bloomington, Minn. Dec. 7, 2009. (AP
Photo/ Andy King)

Sarah Palin will be in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho on Thursday afternoon to sign copies of her book "Going Rogue: An American Life." Palin will then head to her hometown city, Sandpoint, Idaho, where she'll again take part in a book signing Thursday night before heading back to Alaska for the holidays.

Although Sarah Palin only lived in Sandpoint for three months before her family moved to Alaska, her father Chuck Heath grew up in Hope, and graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1956. Chuck taught in Sandpoint schools in the early 1960s before moving to Alaska in 1964 with his family and wife Sally.

Chuck still holds some track records at Sandpoint High, and was inducted into the Sandpoint High School Hall of Fame.

Sarah Palin, grew up in Alaska, but she still has strong connections to Idaho as she returned to attend the University of Idaho in Moscow, graduating in 1987 with a degree in journalism. Palin also attended North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene for the 1983-84 school year.

Palin isn't the only highly recognized person born in this small town. An interesting article by The Associated Press notes that Mark Furhman (a pivotal figure in the O.J. Simpson case), Ben Stein and Pulitzer Prize winning author Marilynne Robinson also hail from Sandpoint.

The former vice-presidential candidate will be at the Coeur d'Alene Fred Meyer from noon until 3:30 p.m. In Sandpoint she'll be at Vanderford's Books where she'll sign books from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m..

Palin's last date for the tour is scheduled for Sunday December 13th as she will be appearing at the base exchange on Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska from 12 noon until 3 p.m.. It will be the first book signing in the home state of the former Republican vice presidential candidate..