Friday, August 25, 2006
Page 15
AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)
Where is the King When You Need Him?
By J’AMY PACHECO
August 16, 1977. Fresh from high school graduation, I was working as a file clerk in an insurance agency. I pulled up in front of my office and heard the news on the car radio: Elvis Presley was dead.
Although I wasn’t a huge fan of The King, I liked his music enough to become hooked by the radio station’s tribute. With Elvis songs playing softly in the background, the station broadcast clips of fans sharing their favorite memories of Elvis, and reacting to the news of his death. It was all very sad, and I spent a few minutes sitting in my car, listening.
I’d have paid a lot more attention if I’d known it could be worth $3 million one day.
By now, you’ve probably heard the news: a London man is willing to pay $3 million to the first person who can prove that Elvis Presley is alive.
Rumors of Elvis sightings have been around for a long time. I don’t know how they got started, but some say it might have stemmed from a mention Waylon Jennings made in a song that Elvis might still be alive two years after the singer’s reported death.
Skeptics speculate the rumor of an undead Elvis was fueled by publication in 1987 of a book titled, “Is Elvis Alive?” by Gail Brewer Giorgio.
Do a Google search for Elvis sightings and you, too, might start to believe. People have been reporting sightings of The King in many places, doing some interesting things.
A lot of people in England claim to have seen him, giving rides in a black Mercedes or brushing his teeth with a ‘carot.’
In North Dakota, he was seen eating a sandwich in a hot tub and in Wisconsin, he was spotted walking down Cindy Place Drive. Just this past May, Elvis was spotted serving food in a school cafeteria in Utah.
The day I looked, there were 644 reported Elvis sightings. Unfortunately, I lost interest about the time I discovered few people who see Elvis know how to spell.
But I did read far enough to learn that in March, Elvis was seen by “at least 500 people” living in a van by the river, “fishing by mouth,” “living off the fat of the land” and “just chilling in a van by the river.”
The post was listed as having been made in L.A., so as a California girl, I’m guessing they meant the concrete-homeless-haven Los Angeles River. Now there’s a pretty picture!
My personal favorite was from the person who realized belatedly that it was Elvis who had been managing his department at a biochemistry company for four years before disappearing.
All that time, and he never suspected?
There has, apparently, been a long running urban legend about a guy who buys an old Harley motorcycle he find in someone’s barn, finds out it was a gift to Elvis from his former wife, Priscilla, and sells it for around $4 million.
That legend has been rebuffed repeatedly by everyone, including Snopes.com. (Interestingly enough, I couldn’t find any mention of a Snopes investigation into the reports that Elvis is alive. Coincidence? Conspiracy? You be the judge…)
There is, by the way, an “Elvis is Alive” museum in Wright City, Missouri. That seems like a good place to start looking for the $3 million man.
I suspect many people will be looking for Elvis. Homegrown tributes to the rocker abound, and include mention of his parents, Gladys and Vernon. My favorite piece of writing reports, “At age three, Vernon was sent to prison for forgery.” I’m very impressed that Vernon could not only write at the age of three, but could formulate such a devious plan to commit fraud.
But I digress.
The 30th anniversary of The King’s death is coming up next summer, and the event will no doubt fuel interest in the truth about Elvis.
Apparently, I’ll never find out the truth about Elvis, because every time I click the link to www.truthabout elvis.com from the reward site, I get a message that the site has exceeded its bandwith.
But if I were you, I’d get busy looking for the loveable hunka hunka. To collect, you’ve got to find the genuine Elvis, who’d be in his 70s by now.
As advised by the Original Unofficial Elvis Web site: “Accept no imitations!”
It could be worth $3 million…
Copyright 2006, Metropolitan News Company