The Colonel (63 page)

CHAPTER 1: THE LITTLE DUTCH BOY

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“Dries
was
very
keen
on
his
looks”:
Marie van Gort–van Kuijk to
author, 1997.

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“When
they
had
done
serious
wrong”:
Marie van Gort–van Kuijk to author,
1997.

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“I
was
never
happy
at
the
convent”:
Marie van Gort–van Kuijk, to
author, 1997.

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“I
worked
for
a
gypsy”:
Colonel Tom Parker quoted in Merilyn Potters, “Birthday Bash for
Colonel Parker,”
Las Vegas Sun,
June 24, 1994.

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“the
orphans
stood
in
a
row
of
twelve”:
Engelina Maas– van
Kuijk to Mieke Dons-Maas, 1993.

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“He would scheme, but always in a good way”:
Mieke Dons-Maas to author, 1997.

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“They
all
slept
in
the
loft”:
Mieke Dons-Maas to author, 1997.

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“He
never
hurt
anyone”:
Nel Dankers–van Kuijk quoted in Vellenga, “Breda Family Wants to
Get in Touch.”

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“even on the back of the meanest horse”:
Mieke Dons-Maas to author, 1997.

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“You could close the drawer”:
Engelina Maas–van Kuijk to Mieke Dons-Maas, 1993.

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“our mother was clever”:
Marie van Gort–van Kuijk to author, 1997.

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“Possessing money”:
Marie van Gort–van Kuijk to author, 1997.

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“he was very conscious about how he looked”:
Engelina Maas–van Kuijk to Mieke Dons-Maas, 1993.

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“if Mother didn’t iron his collar properly”:
Marie van Gort–van Kuijk to author, 1997.

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“He
would
never
drink
a
complete
beer”:
Joe Esposito,
Elvis
International Forum,
February 1997; also Peter Guralnick,
Careless Love,
p. 272.

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“I’m
sure
that
by
the
time”:
Marie van Gort–van Kuijk to author,
1997.

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“He
came
to
say
hello
and
good-
bye”:
Marie van Gort–van Kuijk
to author, 1997.

CHAPTER 2: BEHAVIOR MOST STRANGE

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“He never told me”:
Marie Cornelisse-Ponsie quoted in Vellenga and Farren,
Elvis and the Colonel.

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“Dries must have been talking about me”:
Marie Cornelisse-Ponsie quoted in Vellenga and Farren,
Elvis and the
Colonel.

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“I remember it like yesterday”:
Adriana van Gurp–van Kuijk quoted in Vellenga, “Breda Family Wants to Get in
Touch.”

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“He
just
changed
identity”:
Marie van Gort–van Kuijk to author, 1997.

CHAPTER 3: “ALL GREAT NEPTUNE’S OCEAN”

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“We
were
driving
through
Hobbs,
New
Mexico”:
Byron Raphael to author, 1998.
All quotes from Byron Raphael come from the author’s extensive interviews with Mr. Raphael, 1998–2002.

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Parker himself said he gained entry:
Lloyd Shearer, “Presley vs. Parker,”
Parade,
August 1,
1982.

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“The Smith Act, or the Alien Registration Act”:
Marian Smith to author, 1998.

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“And I am curious”:
Smith to author, 1998.

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“knifing a man to death in a fairgrounds brawl”: The People,
January 26, 1997.

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“no recollection of such a story”:
Chris Hutchins to author, 1998.

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“Do you know that Colonel Tom Parker comes from Breda?”:
Dirk Vellenga,
De Stem,
September 20, 1977.

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“Did something serious happen”:
Dirk Vellenga,
De Stem,
October 15, 1981.

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“Gentlemen: At last, I want to say”: De Stem,
August 9, 1997.

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“fancy costume . . . a dark fantasy jacket costume”:
Breda Police Report: The Murder of Anna van den Enden.

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“in a gray-colored overcoat”:
Breda Police Report: The Murder of Anna van den Enden.

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“conflict of words”:
Breda Police Report: The Murder of Anna van den Enden.

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“pretty chubby around the hips”:
Breda Police Report: The Murder of Anna van den Enden.

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“very thin layer”:
Breda Police Report: The Murder of Anna van den Enden.

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“part of the brain”:
Breda Police Report: The Murder of Anna van den Enden.

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“I really don’t think there was a murder in him”:
Todd Slaughter to author, 2002.

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“I don’t think there’s any doubt”:
Lamar Fike to author, 2001.

CHAPTER 4: MISSING IN ACTION

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“When he got off that boat”:
Gabe Tucker to author, 1997.

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“working in a circus”:
Ad van Kuijk quoted in
It’s Elvis Time,
April 1967, May 1968, and June 1968.

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“about two years when I was sixteen years old”:
Colonel Tom Parker on private audiotape recording of Elvis Presley Birthday
Banquet, Memphis, January 8, 1988.

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“Please tell [Garth]”:
Colonel Tom Parker in letter to Pam Lewis, 1994.

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“Colonel never invited questions”:
Byron Raphael to author, 1998.

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“The story I heard”:
Mac Wiseman to Beverly Keel for author, 1998.

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“Colonel was very loyal”:
Sandra Polk Ross to author, 1997.

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“He was like a giant elephant”:
Beecher Smith quoted in Soocher,
They Fought the Law.

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“The place looked like a carnival midway”:
Alan Fortas to author, 1985.

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“After I left the Netherlands”:
Thomas A. Parker, affidavit in response to lawsuit,
RCA Records v. Joseph A. Hanks, National
Bank of Commerce of Memphis, and Priscilla Presley, co-executors of the Estate of Elvis A. Presley, Thomas A. Parker, individually and d/b/a All Star Shows, and Blanchard E. Tual, Jr., guardian
ad litem for Lisa Marie Presley,
May 18, 1982.

During Elvis’s movie days, he routinely obtained costumes from Western Costumers and in them struck dramatic poses for photographs of himself wearing everything from a Confederate
colonel’s uniform and fake mustache to elaborate women’s garb and wig.

“The Colonel was always disguising himself with props—a hat, a costume, or buttons—so people would look at the prop instead of the man,” says Al Wertheimer, who
photographed Elvis extensively at the outset of his career.

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“I had ten or twelve pictures”:
Cees Frijters quoted in Vellenga and Farren,
Elvis and the
Colonel.

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Parker never reminisced:
“I never have heard Colonel speaking of his army activities.” Bitsy Mott to Dirk Vellenga, raw interview
transcript, 1983.

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“Looking back from 1982”:
Constant Meijers to author, 1997.

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“We didn’t have much to do”:
Earl Kilgus to author, 1998.

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Yet Jerry Goodson:
“There’s just no reference for this guy.” Jerry Goodson to author, 1998.

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“We should also be entitled”:
Peter A. Herbert in letter to Dirk Vellenga, 1982.

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“We were never successful”:
Blanchard E. Tual to author, 1998.

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“The men who served here”:
David Ogden to author, 1999.

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A week later:
Based on information in official U.S. Army unit rosters and morning reports.

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“50 big and little elephants”:
“ ‘Greatest Show’ Here,”
Pensacola Journal,
September 27,
1932.

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when he returned:
Based on information in official U.S. Army unit rosters and finance statements.

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Records show that:
Based on official U.S. Army finance statements.

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“Psychosis, Psychogenic Depression”:
Discharge on certificate of disability, official U.S. Army records, Army Medical Center,
Office of the Detachment Commander.

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On August 19, 1933:
Based on official U.S. Army records, Army Medical Center, Office of the Detachment Commander.

In its manic form, bipolar disorder is a cyclical disease occurring in spontaneous episodes with periods of remission or depression in between. Mood disturbances severe enough to damage job
or social functioning, or requiring almost continual supervision or hospitalization to prevent suicidal actions or violence to others are also common, as are outbursts of suspicion and
persecutory delusions.

Today, several avenues of therapy are available to the bipolar patient, primarily with controlling drugs such as lithium. But in 1933, the severely disturbed were treated with nonsensical
methods that ranged from barbaric to violent—placing the straightjacketed patient in a spinning chair for lengthy periods, for example, or dunking him in ice water baths for extensive
hydrotherapy.

What was thought to be the most effective treatment for psychosis in the 1930s was also the most dangerous and controversial—insulin shock. Administered by intravenous injection,
insulin shock dropped the patient’s blood sugar low enough to send him into diabetic coma and often convulsions. Intense treatment involved up to ninety tortuous injections and, not
surprisingly, resulted in a high mortality rate. While the treatment had some marked therapeutic effect in reducing psychotic behavior, it also created confusion and memory loss in individuals
who were already fragmented. After treatment, patients were often left with their same symptoms of delusions, hallucinations, and thought disorders, and were now sometimes brain damaged as
well. The treatment was considered so perilous that electric shock—considerably safer—was developed to replace it in the late 1930s. Exactly how Private Parker was treated is
unknown.

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In his pocket:
Based on official U.S. Army finance statements.

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“She was for me”:
Mieke Dons-Maas to author, 1997.

CHAPTER 5: TURNING THE DUKE

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“He started out in a candy stand”:
Larry Davis to Constant Meijers, raw interview transcript from the documentary
Looking for
Colonel Parker,
1999.

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“I knew him”:
Joe McKennon to author, 1997.

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“he just didn’t make an impression”:
Joe McKennon to author, 1997.

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“I used to know”:
Joe McKennon to author, 1997.

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“You could know a guy”:
John Campi to author, 1998.

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“in 1933, he was”:
Jack Kaplan to Dirk Vellenga, raw interview transcript, 1983.

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“He did a lot”:
John Campi to author, 1998.

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“I think that everyone”:
Larry Davis to Constant Meijers, raw interview transcript from the documentary
Looking for Colonel
Parker,
1999.

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“You could say”:
Joey Hoffman to author, 1997.

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“He always had quick ideas”:
Jack Kaplan to Dirk Vellenga, raw interview transcript, 1983.

CHAPTER 6: DANCING CHICKENS, TOOTHLESS LIONS, AND RODEO COWBOYS

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“The Colonel told me”:
Larry Davis to Constant Meijers, raw interview transcript from the documentary
Looking for Colonel
Parker,
1999.

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As someone who often treated animals with more dignity:
“If he saw one hurt, it would really touch him.” Gabe Tucker to author,
1997.

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“I’d start each week”:
Hutchins and Thompson,
Elvis & Lennon,
p. 118.

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“He used to come”:
Ernie Wenzik to author, 1998.

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“Mr. Velare,” he began:
Jack Kaplan to Dirk Vellenga, raw interview transcript, 1983.

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“One time, Colonel produced”:
Alan Fortas to author, 1988.

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“always intrigued by cowboys and cowboy stars”:
Oscar Davis to Jerry Hopkins, JHC/UM.

CHAPTER 7: ONE BORN EVERY MINUTE

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“a pussy pulls stronger than an elephant”:
Feiler,
Under the Big Top.

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“She was a piss cutter”:
Sandra Polk Ross to author, 1997.

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“Colonel fell in love with Marie”:
Sandra Polk Ross to author, 1997.

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“I knew he had a girl”:
Jack Kaplan to Dirk Vellenga, raw interview transcript, 1983.

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“She had two children”:
Bitsy Mott to Dirk Vellenga, raw interview transcript, 1983.

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a startlingly beautiful child
: “My husband always told me this was the prettiest baby he had ever seen.” Sandra Polk Ross to
author, 1997.

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he was adopted two years later:
“It took two years for him to be adopted.” Sandra Polk Ross to author, 1997.

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“play toy”:
Billy Ross, unpublished manuscript.

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“She said she was”:
Official divorce records.

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“willful, continuous and obstinate desertion of the complainant”:
Official divorce records.

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“I believe they were in love”:
Sandra Polk Ross to author, 1997.

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“I guess they went”:
Bitsy Mott to Dirk Vellenga, raw interview transcript, 1983.

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“by morning”:
Sandra Polk Ross quoting Bobby Ross to author, 1998.

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“Look what I won!”:
Sandra Polk Ross quoting Bobby Ross to author, 1998.

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“He made Mr. Rinaldi rich”:
Gabe Tucker to author, 1997.

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“the big, wise white man”: Rosita,
1961.

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“I didn’t want you all to know”: Rosita,
1961.

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sometimes spoke in a foreign language:
“Spoke something in a language that sounded foreign to me—could have been Yiddish.”
Bitsy Mott to Dirk Vellenga, raw interview transcript, 1983.

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“The truth is”:
Sandra Polk Ross to author, 1997.