Smart Talk: Terry Mutchler’s new book Under This Beautiful Dome

What to look for on Smart Talk Tuesday, January 27, 2015:

Who will be the new executive director of the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records is anyone’s guess at this point.  Two days into his term as governor last week, Democrat Tom Wolf rescinded his Republican predecessor Tom Corbett’s appointment of Erik Arneson to head up the office.  Republicans are crying foul and Arneson says Wolf doesn’t have the authority to remove him before his six-year term ends.

What is known is the Open Records’ first executive director Terry Mutchler was widely praised but she wasn’t re-appointed by Corbett.

Mutchler appears on Tuesday’s Smart Talk to discuss the current controversy but mainly to talk about her new book. 

In the book, Under This Beautiful Dome: A Senator, a Journalist, and the Politics of Gay Love in America, Mutchler describes her secret romantic relationship with Illinois state senator Penny Severns before gay marriage was legal or even widely supported. During Severns’ battle with, and eventual death from cancer, Mutchler struggled to care for Severns while going to elaborate lengths to hide their relationship from coworkers, the press and even Severns’ family.

Mutchler writes that Sen. Severns’ family cut her off, locked her out of the home she shared with Severns and kept some of the belongings the couple had acquired together.  It’s a painful story.

Terry Mutchler will also speak at the Pennsylvania Women’s Forum Monday, February 2, 2015 at the Windener School of Law in Harrisburg.