Paterno by Joe Posnanski, which will be published by Simon & Schuster August 21, is "perhaps one of the most unfortunately timed books of 2012," the New York Times observed in a long piece today.
After several years of a slowly growing scandal, in the last month, the legendary Penn State coach has been literally and figuratively knocked off a pedestal: the report issued by former FBI director Louis Freeh said that Paterno had failed to report child abuse by his longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted a month ago on multiple counts of abuse, and on Friday Penn State removed the statue of Paterno outside the school's football stadium. This week the NCAA is expected to levy huge penalties against the school's football program.
S&S publisher Jonathan Karp told the Times that the Freeh report has "made people angrier at Joe Paterno, and that has made it a more difficult environment to publish a biography about Joe Paterno." Karp called Posnanski "a truly gifted writer," adding, "People can pass all the judgment they want about Joe Paterno, but Joe Posnanski deserves a chance to be read."
Posnanski, a former writer for Sports Illustrated and the Kansas City Star, received cooperation from Paterno's family for the book and has been criticized for a column after Paterno's death in January seemingly minimizing the scandal in the arc of Paterno's career. But the book has been under strict embargo so the public doesn't know how he has dealt with the scandal.
The author tour has been trimmed and Simon & Schuster is limiting interviews. The publisher had made some changes already as the scandal unfolded: the book's original title, The Grand Experiment: The Life and Meaning of Joe Paterno, was shortened to Paterno, and the pub date was moved up from Father's Day 2013.
