Christmas Wish List: Edwin Edwards - An Authorized Biography

Oh well now, I didn't know this was coming! Talk about a MUST READ! Heh!

A biography of Louisiana's colorful ex-governor Edwin Edwards who is now serving time in the federal penitentiary for bribery and extortion in connection with a riverboat gambling scheme.

Via The Dead Pelican, Ville Platte Today writes:

The book, Edwin Edwards: An Authorized Biography, is written by famed writer Leo Honeycutt, who admitted that he was worried at first that Edwards may not want to delve into some of the darker periods of his life in the book.

"I'm too far from the womb and too close to the tomb for that to make any difference now, " replied Edwards in typical fashion.

The book, which originally had over 1800 pages before being cut down to 641, covers everything from Edwards entrance into politics to his entrance into prison.

Honeycutt described the years of research he had done on Edwards as "dizzying, there was little that happened in Louisiana for a quarter century that didn't have his imprint on it."

Serving as Louisiana's governor for four terms between 1972 and 1996, Edwards built a style as a deft politician who battled frequently with federal prosecutors. He said that he was the subject of two dozen investigations during his career and was acquitted on racketeering charges in the 1980's and once again in October 2000.

This should be fascinating stuff. Edwards was one of the most colorful politicians in our state history. Many prominent local politicians were upset when George W. Bush left office without pardoning Edwards. As corrupt as he was, I swear if he was on the ticket today, Louisiana voters would probably put him back in office.

Edwards knew this and was famously quoted as saying, "The only way I can lose is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy."

He's now 82 years old and serving time in Oakdale Federal Correction Complex, minimum security, scheduled to be released in 2011.