Just kidding about Seth hijacking it -- pretty interesting stuff
2001 I was visiting my HS exchange student in Rouen, went out w his college buddies, and the smokers picked up a group of Americans for 2 more bars. Next day I learned they had been blown away by my perfect English. Wonder if they're still telling the story of the Norman w a flawless Detroit accent.
— Seth M. Fisher (@mgoseth.bsky.social) 8:28 AM · Aug 29, 2026
You've been hearing the story about how Dolly Parton turned down Elvis when his people demanded a chunk of her royalty rights in exchange for recording "I Will Always Love You". That reminded me of something I've wondered about for a long time. The guy who actually put the ask on Dolly was a ...
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) 7:11 PM · Aug 28, 2026
4/ follow it's important to understand that Parker was always a very public part of Elvis's entourage. So a really public figure. Not just someone who tried to shake down people like Dolly for publishing rights. And this was Parker's story through Elvis's death in 1977. But in the early 80s it ...
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) 7:11 PM · Aug 28, 2026
5/ emerged that Parker wasn't some central casting Southern good ole' boy born in West Virginia, as he'd always claimed. He was born in the Netherlands - Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk - and he came to the US illegally at about the age of 20. Apparently while working as a seamen on a shipping vessel.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) 7:11 PM · Aug 28, 2026