Mitt tells Games highs, lows

Mitt Romney details how he tapped his business and political skills to transform the 2002 Winter Games from scandal-ridden to successful in a new book, "Turnaround."

Romney, who was elected governor of Massachusetts just months after the Olympics ended, is scheduled to sign copies of his book in Salt Lake City on Aug. 2, Regnery Publishing Inc. publicist Lauren Lawson said.

The book will be sold nationwide starting next month, she said, declining to disclose how many copies were being printed. "I think there's a lot of interest in the Olympic story," Lawson said.

Regnery Publishing, based in Washington, D.C., rushed a review copy of the book to the Deseret Morning News and provided publicity materials that included several pages of excerpts.

The publishing company bills itself as the country's leader in philosophically conservative books. Current titles include books critical of former President Bill Clinton as well as several attacking liberals.

Romney's 377-page book, though, aims for a business audience by focusing on the nuts and bolts of organizing an Olympics. The Boston businessman was recruited to take over SLOC in 1999, shortly after the bribery scandal surrounding Salt Lake's Olympic bid surfaced.

He was called a "white knight" who would rescue the Games from the taint of the scandal, which threatened to leave the state in debt. Instead, the organizing committee posted a surplus of some $100 million.

Olympic insights

Little of what Romney reveals will come as news to Utahns who closely followed the organizing committee's actions. But "Turnaround" does offer some insight into the decisions Romney had to make as Olympic chief.

There are also entertaining anecdotes about his experiences, although much of the material deals with the business side of SLOC. Whole chapters are devoted to the budget, marketing, federal funding, team-building and something called a strategic audit.

The book, written with Timothy Robinson, is short on biographical information, offering only brief passages about Romney's background. His Mormon ancestors are mentioned, as is his late father, George, who served as governor of Michigan and ran unsuccessfully for president.

Romney himself is seen as a future candidate for the White House — a topic he does not address in his book. He does, however, devote a section to President Bush's appearance at the Games' opening ceremonies.

At one point, Romney said he was invited to join the president in his limo. "Cool," Romney wrote of the trip. "Here was the leader who had declared the War on Terror, who had invaded Afghanistan to root out the Taliban. This was more than your average president."