Michigan's head honcho, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, is taking a dive into the literary world with the forthcoming release of her memoir "True Gretch: What I’ve Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between", slated to hit the shelves on July 9. The book is pegged to be an "unconventionally honest" account of her political journey, as she herself put it, aiming to slake our collective yearning for "compassion, empathy, big ideas, and the grit to get s--- done,” according to a Bridge Michigan report.
Recounting her baptism by fire in the cauldron of a global pandemic, an aborted kidnapping plot, her fights for reproductive rights "to get s--- done" as her creed goes, Whitmer is forthright about the trials she's faced including her tussles with former President Donald Trump who famously labeled her "That Woman from Michigan". Lifting the veil on these experiences, Whitmer eyes to embolden readers to spot the silver linings and in the process churn out a bit of difference in this world, her sentiments echoed in a release by publisher Simon & Schuster and as detailed by CBS Detroit.
The governor's shot to spotlight didn't come minus pushback – armed detractors took to the Michigan Capitol steps protesting her stringent stay-at-home edicts, and in October 2020, a kidnapping scheme ensnared public attention, with Whitmer later confessing to Chris Wallace that the former president's rhetoric made her a marked woman, she has stated, “I think about [being in danger] everywhere I go," reinforcing the perpetual undercurrent of threats that taint public service, highlighted in an interview as reported by People.
While Whitmer's literary debut could be taken as a harbinger of higher political aspirations, with murmurs of a presidential bid in the wind, she's keeping cards close to her chest despite the buzz her book's timing generates ahead of the Democratic National Convention — where President Biden is expected to corral the party's nod for another run at the Oval Office. Whitmer's role in the political theater is far from the curtain call, however, as her current gubernatorial encore doesn’t bow out until the end of 2026, leaving pundits and onlookers to read between the lines of what’s next on her agenda, as described by Bridge Michigan.
Beyond the hard-hitting political fray detailed in the book, readers can expect a dash of humor from Michigan's chief as she's been known to interlace her tough-talk policy with a twinge of wit. The Michigan maverick, not content to simply recount her story, will be forwarding the net proceeds from her book to the Capital Region Community Foundation, coupling personal narrative with philanthropic initiative, the profits from her narrative foray a testament to her “get s--- done” mantra detailed by People.
