From: SHcomedy
Newsgroups: alt.elvis.king
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 12:25 AM
Subject: RE: Alanna Nash's New Book

I got the book "The Colonel" by Alanna Nash today in the mail. At first I was surprised, but I realized I'd told my sister I wouldn't mind getting it for a birthday gift. When I called her she confirmed she did indeed order it for me.

I just finished reading chapter three and, man!, did a chill go down me as all these amazing coincidences were laid out regarding the murder of that woman in Holland!!! I'm pretty convinced now that a good case can be made that Parker was the perpetrator.

I don't think it would be fair to Alanna (or even Bill Burk, who's selling copies of this book) to share the information with all of you regarding the details. So I won't go into them. But, suffice to say, there are some chilling revelations in the 3rd chapter of this book. When I first heard of this murder mentioned here and other places on the internet, I was skeptical, since nobody shared or knew of the circumstances behind the reason Nash chose to give it credence. But now that I've read the details; eye witness accounts, date similarities, former associations, etc...it's a fairly well organized case to be made against Parker. It's pretty interesting. Especially the part concerning the letter that began the investigation to begin with.

And also, did you know there was an employee of Parker's that he confessed his Dutch roots to as far back as '57? Who was it, you ask? Buy the book! :-)


I'm sure the rest of the book will offer some more insights into other things too. I read an article Alanna wrote in the new edition of Readers Digest that spoke of another matter concerning Parker that I'm looking forward to coming across in the book too. Something that took place in 1956.

One thing's for sure, Nash's style of writing has gotten even better in my opinion. The Revelations book is written in transcript style, of course, so you don't get to see her great narrative much within it, but after reading the Alan Fortas book and then reading this one, it's clear she's progressed into an even better author today. I sure hope she continues writing more books as the years march onward.


Scott

 

I just finished reading Alanna Nash's book on Colonel Parker. The last chapter is probably the most melancholy of them all. It starts out with what happened between EPE and Parker, along with RCA, which goes along pretty well with what I already knew about those lawsuits. But as it goes into the later years of Parker's life, the author actually makes you kind of feel sorry for the ol' man. I actually wound up with tears in my eyes as I read about his aging and not being able to move around as much, as well as the obvious guilt he suffered over his mistakes in Elvis' career. His death came at a peaceful time though, while he was reading Christmas cards. And I think he finally made his peace with God and most likely with Elvis too, who we all know was a very forgiving soul.

I'm really glad I read this book. Parker may have made some mistakes and lost his business savvy in the later years of Elvis' life, and as baffling and mysterious as his reason might be for turning his back on his family, I still think deep down he always managed to rationalize everything he did as both a manager and a person in some moral or just way. And if I'd ever met him, even after the truth of his business dealings came to light in the mid-80's, I bet I would've been just as enthralled with his charm and mastery as so many others seem to have been.

He not only took Elvis to the top within a years time, but he also pioneered business tactics that are still being used and perfected to this day. And whether or not you wanna fault those kind of tactics, calling them dirty or unethical...it still keeps us all on our toes. The Snowman made us all wiser and made us realize there is indeed a sucker born every minute. And maybe, because of how much he affected the business world, those suckers are now decreasing in number. In a world that can often be cold and heartless, what better characteristic to teach the masses than caution toward your fellow man. Unlike cats, humans don't have such an inherent instinct from birth.

I'm sure Larry Geller would agree that there's a reason for everything and the Lord works in mysterious ways.

This is a great book and I highly recommend it to any fan of musical history.


Scott