STATESMAN:GEORGE MITCHELL & THE ART OF Format: Paperback

Over the course of his long and storied career, George Mitchell proved to be much more than just that senator from Maine. He is one of the last from a sort of "golden age" of American politics, when opposing parties worked together to accomplish things for the good of the nation, rather than the good of the party. Before becoming senator, Mitchell was an attorney and then a judge in Maine. Among his many public efforts, he is perhaps known for his environmental work and his work on peace and justice, especially his brokering of the peace in Ireland and his efforts in the Middle East.

Now, seasoned journalist Douglas Rooks gives us a thoughtful and highly readable look at the man and his public work. While the book traces his personal life, it is primarily a political biography, exploring his time in office as well as his public work before and after his elected terms.Compiled from extensive interviews with Mitchell as well as staffers and others who've known and worked with him, it is as much an exploration of American politics at a time when politics could actually be said to have "worked," as it is a man whose vision and ideals have helped shape the world.

Douglas Rooks is a career journalist who worked for weekly and daily newspapers for 25 years. He served as editor of the Granite State News in Wolfeboro, N.H., editorial page editor for the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, Maine, and editor and publisher of Maine Times. Since the turn of the century, he has been a freelance editor, writer and author, covering Maine state government, and specializing in environmental issues, public education, municipal affairs, business, and tax policy. He is a graduate magna cum laude of Colby College, and a former board president of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church in Augusta. He lives, with his wife, in a 210-year-old farmhouse in West Gardiner. This is his first book.