Just days after Joe Paterno’s death, Jonathan Mahler, bestselling author of Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning, offers an insightful look at the rise of Penn State under the 46-year reign of the man affectionately known as Joe Pa. Immersed in reporting the Paterno saga since the scandal broke last fall, Mahler's penetrating narrative traces the arc of Paterno’s career from dogged Ivy League quarterback to visionary coach to unassailable icon – and we're proud to offer it as the latest Byliner Original, Death Comes to Happy Valley (read an excerpt here).

It was perhaps inevitable that what Mahler calls “a slow rot” began to pervade Joe Pa’s football program, culminating with the horrific scandal that rocked Penn State and forever altered the Paterno story. “In the end,” writes Mahler, “Paterno seemed to resemble less his hero Aeneas, building a new nation — Penn State Nation — in Happy Valley, than King Lear, clinging stubbornly to the throne when he was no longer a competent steward for his kingdom, undone by a fatal error in judgment.”

As the definitive take on a story that's been forming for decades, Mahler's feature builds on and completes others that came before it. Joe Posnanski published a major profile of the coach two years ago. "He's 82 years old, will turn 83 four days before Christmas, and he's coaching Penn State football for the 60th consecutive season," he wrote. "How can anyone wrap his arms around that much time? Joe was born before Shirley Temple, before Andy Warhol, before James Dean, before Buddy Holly, before Mikhail Gorbachev. People celebrate Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon 40 years ago; Joe is older than Neil Armstrong. People commemorate Martin Luther King Day; Joe was born before Martin Luther King Jr. Elvis impersonators still haunt the Vegas strip; Joe was born before the King of Rock and Roll."

Pat Jordan wrote about Paterno's method. "Paterno is the architect of Penn State's 'Grand Experiment,' which emphasizes players' moral values, discipline, character and scholastic achievements over merely winning football games, which Paterno calls a 'silly' endeavor," he explained.

And Jerry Sandusky, the man alleged to have molested a series of young boys? Jack McCallum wrote about him back in 1999. It's awful to read, knowing what we know now. "Around central Pennsylvania, Jerry's Kids has nothing to do with a Labor Day telethon. With the proceeds from his book, Developing Linebackers the Penn State Way, and a lot of hope, Sandusky started the Second Mile, which began as a group foster home," it states. "Today the organization has 20 full-time employees, hundreds of volunteers and a fund-raising machine that rustles up about $1 million per year; through a network of school-and community-based programs it reaches about 100,000 at-risk youngsters. Jerry and Dottie have done more than their share of personal reaching, too. All told the Sanduskys have six children, all adopted, three as infants, three after having had them in foster care."

Chilling.