PLEASANT GROVE — To anyone who knows Randy Jernigan, it's not surprising that he decided to write a book about Marie Osmond.

A celebrity journalist, Jernigan spends the majority of his days writing stories about Britney Spears, Julianne Hough and other celebrities. He had all his sources in place when he decided to do a book on the celebrity whose family changed his life.

When Jernigan was 15, he received a pamphlet in the mail sent by the Osmond family that discussed aspects of their religion.

"I read it and it struck a chord," he said.

The son of a Baptist and a Pentecostal, he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he turned 18 and remains appreciative of the Osmond family.

Jernigan always expected to write the unauthorized biography of Marie, which will be published in July 2008. The book, Jernigan says, isn't a whitewash or a hack job written by an eccentric fan.

"I can't say I'm a big fan, but I appreciate her and her career," he said.

"I have a lot of respect for her and her family. It's an accurate portrayal of her life and her business."

The biography did not receive approval from either Osmond or her management company. Jernigan thinks they won't be disappointed with it but may not be happy with some information he reveals. Jernigan spoke with Osmond's family, friends and business associates. The book discusses her business, personal and public life.

Arguably the most famous Osmond, and known for years as "America's sweetheart," Marie Osmond has a charm that allows her to draw in and keep her fans, who want to know true information about her life, Jernigan said.

Osmond's recent stint on "Dancing With the Stars" put her in the public eye once again. It "did some amazing stuff for her career" and should help the book sales given her huge fan base, Jernigan said.

He decided he didn't want to work with Marie on the biography.

"(If I worked with her) it would not be mine and not what I wanted," he said.

Jernigan has finished the first draft of the biography, and the final copy should be done in January, he said.

About 500,000 copies of the roughly 300-page biography will be published initially. Jernigan's new Writer's Studio of Utah will publish the book in conjunction with BookSurge, the publishing arm of Amazon.com.

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E-mail: csmith@desnews.com