Thomas D'Alesandro Jr.

DENVER – U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) returned to her Maryland roots Wednesday morning, calling herself the “first woman, first Marylander” Speaker of the House.

Pelosi made the remarks during a Maryland delegation reception hosted by Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon at the Renaissance Denver Hotel.

Pelosi grew up in Baltimore and her father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., was a 5-term member of Congress and legendary mayor. Her brother, Thomas III, also served as Baltimore's mayor.

Add this to your summer reading list: the first female House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will release her autobiography, "Open House," around August.

As you know, it's a story that began in Baltimore at the home of her father and famous pol Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. Hopefully she'll share some memories from her childhood that aren't already public record.

The book may even serve a larger purpose in an election year, helping the Speaker recast herself as a tough, ethnic, Inner Harbor working-class Democrat (for more, turn your dictionaries to: Mikulski, Barbara) than an effete, elitist San Francisco liberal.

Assuming this gets the kind of broad press coverage that usually comes with this kind of book, and Democrats in conservative districts might not mind being tied to Pelosi after all.