Grob/Sallah
Bill Burk
Bob: >> If you have any information on Dick Grob please contact Mike
Sallah at the Toledo Blade. I'm sure he would lke to do a follow up story on
Mr. Grob. He can be contacted at 888-252-3301 or msa...@theblade.com >>
Don't bother. 1st, as I've already written, this guy is a pussy. Talks
BIG! But talk is cheap. 2nd, he's a disgrace to the profession of
journalism. Talks with forked tongue.
TCB: >> Very interesting. Toward the end under the heading "Reputation"
the reporter lists examples of Grob being a fraud and a phony. Are fans even
aware of these things that it takes an Ohio paper to expose him? >>
Most fans are not aware. And some who are aware sort of take a "ho hum"
attitude about it. "So he lied ... so what?" Even after the mighty Blade
fell.
Bob again: >> Bill and Marty I have to agree with you. I talked to Mike
Sallah several times and gave him some facts that would knock your socks off
but he did not use them. I know he did talk to Grob and knowing Grob he
probably threatened a law suit if he used some of the info I gave him ... >>
I've been a professional journalist since 1955. You are taught in
Journalism 101 that the best defense against a lawsuit (libel, defamation of
character, etc) is the TRUTH. Sallah "says" he's been in the business for
years. He, too, "should" have taken J101 in college and learned the above.
As long as you're armed with the Truth, you don't sweat "threatened"
lawsuits ... or even lawsuits.
Don't know who you are, Bob, or what you provided The Pussy for his
"National Enquirer" type story, but I am aware that Sallah was given many
printed documents to back up what others provided to him. MANY documents!
CLCrandall: >> He called saying The Blade had the story for the 20th
anniversary; that Grob's book was in the Toledo Public Library and the
newspaper started getting calls from police officers - how extraordinary is
that? - complaining they knew Grob's background, that he was a fraud; that
he'd washed out of the Air Force Academy before joining the Toledo police
force. The paper decided to hold the story for the 25th anniversary. >>
As YOU know, CL, I questioned Sallah's sincerity (to his face) in the
"timing" of printing that story now. I mean, that book came out 6 years ago.
WHY go after a man today for something he wrote 6 years ago? He never
provided a suitable answer to that. Probably because he knew all along he
was NOT going to write this sensational "uncovering the facts" story he SAID
he was going to write, but rather, a NEnq "reject" story.
FEM: >> Bill and Marty tell us what you know! What information did this
reporter have? >>
Marty is free to reply as freely as he wants to here. But after I read the
book, and after I was provided quite a bit of documentation to prove many,
many things written in this book were simply not true, I called Dick (living
in Memphis at the time) and we had coffee at a nearby restaurant, and I
discussed with him the many things I had learned that, as printed in the
book, were simply not true. I told Dick at the time I saw no reason -- a
year later -- to print any of this stuff at that point, but told him, also,
that "if the Aldens ever take you to court on this, as they SAY they are, I
am bound to print what I know."
So I feel, at this point, that I am bound by my word to him (however
difficult some of you may find this to believe). I was raised with Deep
South thinking that "a man's word is his bond."
FEM2: >> I would think that the reporter who wrote this article did have
his facts
verified, he would have been a fool if he didn't. >>
Oh, FEM, he HAD his FACTS verified -- in spades! The very little that he
printed (and none in any detail) represents only a tiny fraction of what
this Pussy (Sallah) was provided with by numerous sources, including Bob
(above).
This man gathered facts for over one month. He spoke personally to probably
everyone who can spell the word "Grob." If I printed the list of people he
told me he talked with, you would recognize a good 90% of them -- many
personally associated with Elvis; some well-known! At the end of a month's
time on dealing with this one story, he could have written the most
sensational story ever in the history of the Toledo Blade!
But as I said, all along I questioned "Why NOW?" It just never made sense.
And, in the end, it wasn't meant to make sense because this Pussy never
INTENDED to write the story he SAID he was going to write. NEVER !!! He
was after a "National Enquirer" type headline and story.
So again, I don't think any of you should bother even calling or e-mailing
this man with more "facts" because they will never see the light of day ...
so why waste your time?
(And if any of you feel you want to "forward" this on to him, just hit the
"Forward" button. He KNOWS what I have written is 100% true and I'll debate
him on this in any forum he chooses -- including the mighty Toledo (Dulled)
Blade !!)
007
******************
Bill E. Burk
Publisher, Elvis World Magazine
Devildog1982z
>From: "Bill Burk" beb...@worldnet.att.net
>Date: 8/25/02 9:37 PM Central
All the ethics talk, stacks of information and sources unused, and lastly to
have his journalistic integrity questioned by saying he wrote a National
Enquirer type story is pretty damning. But the ultimate insult for a man is to
be called A PUSSY! To have your manhood questioned says it all.
I hope the pussy gets what he has coming to him in spades.
CLCrandall963
have his journalistic integrity questioned by saying he wrote a National
Enquirer type story is pretty damning. But the ultimate insult for a man is to
be called A PUSSY! To have your manhood questioned says it all.
I hope the pussy gets what he has coming to him in spades. >>
Yep. I wrote a letter to the editor - without the P word, as much as I would
have enjoyed using it. They will never print it, but that wasn't my intention
anyway, only to tell the editor the truth about the shameful article and
whitewash.
This comment is for 007:
Excellent analysis, as always, 007.
Just want to make a distinction here. To discredit a book published over a year
ago - or over 10, 20, 50 years ago, for that matter - may not qualify as
breaking news, and I can see the argument for "why bother now?" at least for
mainstream media.
BUT Grob's book was not written in disappearing ink, and the fans who read it
have long memories. As long as people read it, believed it, remember it and
parrot its contents as gospel to this day - to cite as one example our very own
Johnny Savage, who is normally savvy and not easily fooled - I think it's
never too late to set the record straight.
As I reminded the reporter, one heckuva article could have been written without
ever uttering Ginger Alden's name. It wasn't about her, there were SO many
other fruads perpetrated by this guy that she could easily have been left OUT.
But since Ginger was the focus of this "article" I'd like to say a word about
that.
Big disclaimer: I was not there. But here's what I've been told by Ginger's
family. Anyone is free to dispute anything contained in the following:
According to Ginger's family, Dick Grob - who sources say NEVER had just one
wife or girlfriend but several simultaneously - hit on Ginger and Ginger told
Elvis. It got Grob in some temporary hot water with Elvis, which Grob readily
talked his way out of, as he always does.
From that moment on, he set out to destroy Ginger. He claimed to have pooled
resources with the guys to have Ginger followed, claiming he heard she was
fooling around on Elvis. Someone DID follow Rosemary and Ginger to TGIF
Friday's, where Rosemary said SHE was the only one dancing and Ginger was there
just to accompany her, sitting like a wallflower with a Coke.
Anybody who knows Rosemary - a popular, outgoing, fun-loving gal - could
readily picture that. Incidentally - Rosemary was with Ginger many times with
Elvis, too. In fact, it was Rosemary's idea to have Rosemary and Ginger
accompany Terry to meet Elvis in the first place.
Anyway, none of the allegations he came up with - that she was dating her old
boyfriend, that she was dating A COP - how transparent is that invention? - was
true in the least. But the guys all bought into it! They told Elvis and that
was what some of their arguments were about and why he considered breaking up
with her. But he DID love her, as both Joe Esposito and Kathy Westmoreland have
said for the record. Elvis told Ginger the guys were trying to break them up.
Remember what Elisabeth and Rex Mansfield wrote in their book, that Elvis
wanted the guys to stay away from his women? Elvis told Ginger NOT to talk to
the guys. So of course they have no love for her. She was not the fun-loving,
outgoing "buddy" that Linda Thompson was to the guys. She was (and is) very
shy.
Same thing with Grob's "investigation" into Elvis' death. The charges were
phony, trumped up. Ginger called for help IMMEDIATELY. Al Strada was the first
one up the stairs, not Joe Esposito, who was still up at Howard Johnson's
motel, and when Ginger finally came down the stairs, much later, she had her
full makeup on because she never took it OFF when she slept with Elvis!
Charlie Hodge TOLD me he'd given an article to the Star, but didn't say what it
was about, and told me he had a deal with them, that they'd use his name when
he wanted to be quoted, and would just say "a pal" or "an insider" when he
didn't. When the article came out, it was the same old repeat B.S., "She came
down the stairs all made up. She'd called a friend of hers who worked at the
Enquirer."
Ginger didn't HAVE a friend who worked at the Enquirer. Jim Kirk (who 007 says
the guys at the paper have a LOW opinion of) came with another guy and took
photos of her once for a local paper but she never spoke to him. And he wasn't
even working for the Enquirer when Elvis died but had returned to college -
he's now an engineer living in Maryland. As Jean-Henri pointed out, a
20-year-old who unexpectly stumbles across a dead body is too busy p**ing her
pants frozen in shock.
Ginger turned down the Larry King show this August and she turned down this
p*ssy reporter, Sallah, who tried to blackmail her into giving him an interview
by telling me that "when she sees the article, she'll regret not talking to
me." She has never seen Sallah's article and so is missing all the fuss. Good
for her. She still cares for Elvis to this day. What could be worse than having
false witness against you repeated as FACT for years? Yet it continues,
unfairly.
But the info on Grob - shocking, damning information, more than you could
possibly imagine - is out there now and it's only a matter of time before it
appears on some appropriate website. In the meantime, if any of us have our
houses burned down or other suspect "accidents," I hope y'all will be wearing
your thinking caps.
We all had a lot to lose by cooperating with this investigation.
And WE will be trashed for daring to speak the truth.
No wonder so many have remained silent all these years.
Bill Burk
(who 007 says the guys at the paper have a LOW opinion of) came with another
guy and took photos of her once for a local paper but she never spoke to him
>>
WHAT local paper? Both the CA and PS had/have more than an adequate number
of photographers ON staff and the ONLY time we used outsider's pix were (for
instance) if an airplane crashed and the guy was standing there with his
camera. So I doubt seriously Kirk ever shot for "local papers."
>> Yep. I wrote a letter to the editor - without the P word, as much as I
would
have enjoyed using it. They will never print it, >>
Newspapers have a tendency to protect their own from the public, so I, too,
doubt your Letter to the Editor will ever see daylight IN the Toledo Blade.
And if you addressed it "Letter to the Editor," there is as 99.9% chance THE
editor will never see that. Clerks normally handle those types of letters
and an editorial page assistant decides if it goes in the newspaper or not.
And I don't know, maybe said assistant would have giggled had he read the
P-word spelled out for him.
007
--
CLCrandall963
of photographers ON staff and the ONLY time we used outsider's pix were (for
instance) if an airplane crashed and the guy was standing there with his
camera. So I doubt seriously Kirk ever shot for "local papers.">>
So he even lied about that? Could Kirk have taken a photo of her for the CA or
PS? Not that it matters, it's all bunk anyway, but I was just curious. She
said she never knew him and had not talked to him.
Bill Burk
PS? Not that it matters, it's all bunk anyway, but I was just curious. >>
If he had shot a photo of her falling off the roller coaster from the top of
the rails, etc ... but Ginger was accessible enough to both newspaper staffs
(as was her family) that other than some dynamic, emergency pix, neither
paper would EVER have bought a pix from him.
(I still have pix of Ginger and Terri from our old P-S files.)
The National Enquirer, in the '70s, as far as Elvis was concerned, bought
most of their local photos from Jim Reid, a member of our P-S staff. I was
with Jim only this morning and had an hour's talk with him. The Enquirer,
in those days, preferred working thru local newspapers'
reporters/photographers because they had better access.
Later, the growth of the paparazzi (sp?) profession was such that the tabs
began using photos from many sources.
In MY days at the newspaper, I sold the Enquirer only one story (and
accompanying pix). This was NOT a sensational story (from a tab viewpoint)
and in those days they had readers vote on Story of the Month, Story of the
Year, and my Dean Sylvester story (about a college basketball player with
cancer) won both votes (Month/Year). I had written it for the P-S and the
Enquirer called asking permission to reprint it.
Knowing how they changed things around, and how fragile Dean was over his
situation ... I told them they could use it ONLY if they put it in writing
that they would not change ONE word of my original story without my
permission.
They called to say "we don't agree to that with ANYBODY."
And I came back, "Well, that's the ONLY terms you're getting from me."
And they came back, agreeing, printed my story word-for-word, and as I said,
it won their 2 top awards. A Hollywood producer who read the story called
me and said, "Too bad you didn't write that a year ago because THAT could
have been the 'Brian's Song' movie!!!"
It remains today, along with my Linda Thompson interview the day after
Elvis' funeral, the MOST-printed stories I ever wrote. Both stories
appeared in over 800 newspapers and magazines worldwide.
H
girl. He was in very ill health and the young and beautiful Ginger was like
a shot in the arm that he needed. Meeting her seemed to inspire him somewhat
in November /December 1976 before he slumped again. Charlie and Larry have
said he changed his mind about marrying her. He said there was no way he was
marrying into that family.
.H.
CLCrandall963 wrote in message
<20020827181533...@mb-ct.aol.com>...
Real World
thing a man can be is a sheep among wolves.
I find it inmature to refer to Mr. Grob as a
"pussy" I believe he is in his 60 s now and
not some young buck in his prime.
I am not impressed with people who
challenge senior citizens manhood in
anyway.
It is easy to underestimate a persons
manhood. Remember Audie Murphy?
To criticize his penmanship is understood.
He overexagerated and stretched the truth
to sell a product worthy of the "superstar"
status that he most adamantly tried to fit
in with. He has been proven to of been
a fraud.
Im not speaking on his defense, but out
of the concern and respect for others
the profanity is not necessary.
Grob in the German language means
"Big"
Big- liar
Big- exaggeration
Big-book
Big-ripoff
Big-Time
Big-Mad
I dont think of authors as the most manly
of men to begin with.
Jesse Ventura was a Vietnam Navy Seal
but he admits that job is for the young
bucks today. Ive worked with a former
Navy Seal who is in his sixties now and
I find it distasteful for people to challenge
their manhood over what they were in the
past. (no pussy)
But that dont compare to Mr. Grob though
huh?
I guess anyone who claims to be a war hero
but actually "dodged the draft" deserves
whatever criticism they get.
I admit those are some low accusations!
Broadwaychris
>"pussy" I believe he is in his 60 s now and
>not some young buck in his prime.
You read it wrong, Sallah was the pussy.
I don't think he's up there with Grob in those advanced years. So, can he be a
pussy?