The Rehabilitation Of Dianne Wilkerson

It’s one of the more improbable comeback stories in recent memory: after tumbling from the political heights and doing time in prison, former State Senator Dianne Wilkerson has emphatically re-established herself as a political force in Boston. Adam Reilly talks with Philip Martin about his new story detailing Wilkerson’s fall and rise; the record and community loyalties that have made the latter possible; and Wilkerson’s ongoing insistence on seeing herself as a victim who was unjustly persecuted. First, though, Peter Kadzis sizes up the bigger meaning of House Speaker Ron Mariano’s ill-fated field trip from Beacon Hill to the South End to endorse Boston mayoral candidate Jon Santiago — who probably wishes he’d just issued a press release instead.