LIBBY PATAKI, the governor's wife, is taking heat for a children's book that she wrote. But this latest venture of hers has at least one plus. We can now be certain that someone in the Pataki family knows a thing or two about the importance of books for young people. More on that in a moment.
In case you missed it, Mrs. Pataki is the co-author of "Madison in New York," the story of a girl who visits the city's famous sites with her pet Yorkshire terrier, called - what else? - New Yorkey. Perhaps Mrs. Pataki and her colleague, Wilson Kimball, were unaware that New Yorkey was suggested last year as a new name for pit bulls, part of a woebegone attempt to give those dogs a cuddlier image. That idea lasted about as long as a Britney Spears marriage.
In any event, "Madison in New York," whatever its literary merit, has raised eyebrows because of the money arrangements behind it.
Questions about Pataki family finances are a hardy perennial, as sure as a sunrise or a late state budget. Some of those who ask the questions suspect that the family strives a bit too hard to keep the tacky in Pataki.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/18/nyregion/18nyc.html?