Back in September when I read Wasilla, Alaska native Anne Kilkenny's viral email about her take on John McCain's choice for running mate, former Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin, I inquired to see if she'd like to speak with me on Planet Erstwild.

By the time she responded this week, I'd all but forgotten I'd even written. 'Sorry not to get back sooner,' she wrote, 'but your request was buried in 13,700 emails I've received.'

As St. Petersburg Times staff writer John Farley puts it: Kilkenny, 57, has been quoted on the front page of the New York Times. She has been interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, four British papers, L'Express from France and Der Spiegel from Germany, to name just a few. She has gone on TV with ABC and NBC and CNN, which spent four hours at her house yesterday. She has spoken with National Public Radio.

According to Judah Freed, Kilkenny's experience began as an online comment to an article about Palin by Laura McGann at the Washington Independent website.

"I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska," wrote Kilkenny, a Democrat. "I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first-name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city."

For another Wasilla resident's glowing take on the Republican VP choice, read Deb Frost's reflections Sarah Palin: Alaska and the US’s Answer to Margaret Thatcher.