QUEENS, N.Y. -- Alec Baldwin was tossing around a football on the sidewalk outside a Marriott Hotel in Long Island City while crew members of the TV show "30 Rock" were setting up. Baldwin was light on his feet, joking with the crew and happily posing for a photograph with a wandering fan.
This week sees both his first Emmy as lead actor for his role as Jack Donaghy in the comedy series and the publication of his first book, "A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey Through Fatherhood and Divorce," co-written with Mark Tabb and published by St. Martin's. His mood belies the book's subject: It is an exhaustive, harrowing and deeply felt recounting of Baldwin's experience divorcing Kim Basinger and subsequent petitioning for joint custody of their daughter, Ireland. He covers the minutiae of mandated counseling sessions and legal struggles with his ex-wife, while revealing the emotional toll the legal process has had on him personally. A devastating indictment of the family law system in California, the book is also a heartbreaking catalog of a father's war to be a part of his daughter's life.
Baldwin motions toward the sidewalk, grabs two folding canvas chairs and sets them up with a view of the traffic. "Hopefully this book will lead to something positive, whether or not it leads to an examination of the family law system is another matter. Everyone in my life who knows me thinks that the book is very fair." He trailed off with a quiet chuckle.
Trucks roared by on the thoroughfare a few feet away. Given that the custody case is ongoing, and given its gag order, was there ever a concern that writing a book might cause an adverse reaction?
"They will say these are the reflections of a bitter man," he shrugged. "They will say, 'Well, you married her.' The lawyers and the judges, they look at all litigants and they hate them. They despise them!"
But given that the custody of Ireland is at stake, wasn't Baldwin concerned that the book could have repercussions?
"I don't really care," he said. "I'm sure individual people like [Basinger's lawyer Neal] Hersh will seize on anything he can, but most people in the Beverly Hills family law system see Hersh for what he is."
Baldwin might be the first to call him a cross between Gabe Kaplan and Chuck Norris. "I do like that visual," he said, repeating sentiments expressed in the book. "But you know, there's a demand for what he does. If you are in a divorce and you just want to make the life of your ex as miserable as possible, then Hersh is the man to have on your speed dial. He exists to make divorce a form of torture."
