F eature
6 • T he C lackamas P rint
M ay 26, j
Tabloid writer reveals the trut
“If you see anything, call us
Enquirer editor told Faucher.
Clackamas Instructor
Eric Faucher tells of his
life as a writer for The
National Enquirer
Joel Gaynor
T he C lackamas P rint
Long before arriving at Clackamas,
instructor Eric Faucher was like many read
ers: he was a poor college student; that all
changed one summer when he found him
self writing for the infamous tabloid, The
National Enquirer.
“It’s 1977. I’m a student at California
State University. I’m trying to get my degree
in marriage and family counseling. I don’t
have a job,” said Faucher. “I decided that, for
my own information, and probably because
I needed it, too, I wanted to go to a group
therapy session.”
Faucher thought the experience might
help him with his intended career path.
“I met a guy there,” he said, “who [was]
a writer, arid after the session he pulled me
over and said ‘Hey, are you really interested
in writing? I know this really wacky place
where you can write stories as a stringer
(correspondent), send them off and get paid
lots of money.’”
The man asked for Faucher’s phone num
ber and said an editor from The Enquirer
would call him if they needed someone to
write a story, but Faucher wasn’t convinced.
“I [thought], ‘This sounds great,”’ he
said, “‘but this guy is in therapy. It can’t
be great.’” Not expecting a call, Faucher
ilAM Cftllilll_
P hoto I llustration
gave the man his phone number. “I didn’t
think anything of it.”
A week later, Faucher’s skepticism was
erased when he received a phone call from
an editor at
Enquirer. The caller said
he had heard that Faucher was interested in
writing for the tabloid.
by JESSE LAMOND
C lackamas P rint
“I really didn’t know what to say,”
Faucher recalled, “and he didri’t wait
for an answer.”
According to Faucher, the editor told him
they'needed someone to check on a lead
about actor Telly Savalas dating a 19-year-old
French girl. He would be paid $150 a day.
Faucher still thought it must be
but he took a chance and, in the
received $600 for his time. Thus be
trek with The National Enquirer.
Faucher spent four years on stj
The Enquirer, two as a writer and t,
editor, after which he continued t
tribute as a freelance writer.
“Actually, I worked up until I
working here,” he said. “In fact, I thii
a few stories the first [year] I was h
working for The Enquirer”
Of all the stories he’s written
ever outlandish, Faucher sweat,
were fabricated.
“I never had to make up a story. 1
I ever worked with [did],” he said;
often, we had stories about celebt
unbelievable we couldn’t print them.
Faucher also wrote about allege
sightings. One example he gave was
cle about a UFO that rose out of a I
small Indian reservation.
“I was asked to sit at that lake witi
era and wait,” he said. “The people s
and down that they had seen thi
saucer coming out of the lake at i
times, and so they sent me out the
couple weeks. It was pretty creepy.”
Faucher said his job was merely
these often incredible stories to the [
written form.
“Those stories we didn’t have i
up,” said Faucher, “because the pc
interviewed believed what they saw. I
these people were concerned, thi
telling the truth. All we did as £
writers was simply tell their story.”
Local band preps for Rose Festival performance at the 'Schn
students at CCC. Drummer Rob
Deagle of Gladstone and bassist
Josh Rose are currently not
A phone call from Rose attending school; guitarist Nick
Festival coordinator Greg Tablyn Dorvweiler of Oregon City is a
and the words “Schnitzer” and student at The University of
“televised” was all it took to bring Oregon.
the split members of local band
Bell' was asked to join the
The Last Five to the realization band, at the request of Tablyn,
that, musical differences aside, who expressed a need for key
this was a gig too big to pass up.
boards during the performance.
Winning last spring’s Battle of
According to Barclay, Bell has
the Bands presented The Last had no trouble sliding into the
Five with the opportunity to play groove of the band.
with the band The Gin Blossoms,
“[Bell] is one of the greatest
at Waterfront Park as part of the musicians I’ve ever heard,” said
Rose Festival last June. This year, Barclay. “He’s a great addition.”
The Last Five will return, except
The alternative rock band split
this time,-they’ll be performing at last October over “musical differ
the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall ences,” according to Barclay, who
for the Queen’s Coronation pre considers the breakup inevitable.
sented by Portland’s WB, airing
“Bands break up more often
live on June 3.
than people die,” he said.
“We heard the word ‘Schnitz’
Despite their falling out, the
and our eyes just lit up,” said, lead band expressed only a slight hesi
singer and CCC student Sean tancy over reconvening to play at
Barclay of Gladstone.
the event
The band consists of Barclay,
“I’m excited to get that much
guitarist
Mike
Roche
of exposure,” said Roche
Damascus and recently recruited
“It’s awesome that we get a
keyboardist David Bell of chance
to
do
this,”
Oregon City, both of whom are. Dorvweiler added.
Karen Hill
F eature E ditor
KAREN HILL C lackamas P rint
Together again: The Last Five get
back in the groove for their up
coming performance.
Barclay confessed thfc transi
tion back into playing music with
the band again was effortless.
“We had our first practice
after eight months and we just
looked around at each other and
said, This just kind of fits,”’ said
Barclay. “As for what’s going to
happen [after the gig], whether or
not we’re going to show up for
practice—I think we will.”
Pordand State University
music director Jon Newton has
been working with the band t on
Phil Collins’ “Welcome” from the
Walt Disney motion picture
“Brother Bear,” which the band
will be performing for the event
‘The song is kind of cheesy”
said Dorvweiler, “but it’s fun.”
During commercials, ‘The
Last Five” will have the opportu
nity to play their choice of music,
which will include cover songs
and originals.
“They’re going to have a lot of
trouble putting vocals between
the commercials, so I’m not
going to be able to sing,” said
Barclay. “I’m just going to pick up
a guitar and we’re going to jam ...
knowing [Bell and Dorvweiler]
there’s going to be sot
some solos.”
The band was also s
opportunity to perform
music (prior to the start
event, which they app
will last 30 to 40 minutes
Huge crowds and lari
aren’t unfamiliar to this I
Barclay has high expecta
the upcoming performar
“I have a lot of confi
these guys,” he said.
“Being in front of tl
people,” said Bell, “is go
a rush, to say the least.”
Last October they w
to perform before an aui
11,000 at- the Michael
event, held in the It
Coliseum. Barclay cons:
experience invaluable.
“You don’t know i
going to be able to hanc
said. “Having that ex
behind us is worth ten ft
experience before that.”
The event will be tele
Thursday, June 3, at 8 p.i
WB. Tickets to the
Coronation are available
www.ticketmaster.com.
Bands gather at concert to promote peace, voter registrat
t
Ben Maras
T he C lackamas P rint
Beneath a sparse white back-
drop with the concert’s slogan sten
ciled in black spray paint, four
bands gathered under one message:
a plea for peace.
Founded in 1999 by Asian^Man
Records owner Mike Park, the Plea
for Peace. Foundation is a non
profit organization with the goal to
“promote the ideas of peace
through the power of music.”
The goal of this year’s tour was
to get college-age students regis
tered to vote. Their reasoning
behind the registration push was
eloquently cited, by performer Saul
Williams, saying that, if every col
lege-age student voted in the 2004
election, they alone could decide
the presidency.
The line-up for the tour’s
stop in Portland featured head
liners' Cursive, along with Saul
Williams, Mike Park and San
Francisco band EE.
EE kicked'the tour off with a prise. Rather than perform a more
hypnotizing set of melodic indie traditional set, Williams opted to
rock in the vein of Nada Surf and talk abpqtthg shape pf the country
Sigur Ros. Most songs were nearly and read passages from his new
instrumental, blending the disjoint book (an epic poem) “Said the
ed sounds of pre-recorded mum Shotgun to the Head.”
bling with the haunting howl of
.“Wouldn’t, yout, parents be
singer Tobin Mori’s guitar. After a proud?” Williams joked. “You’re all
short set, EE left the stage to-intro- at a f***ing poetry reading!”
It was possibly Williams’ set that
duce Mike Park.
It would be hard to imagine the the audience reacted to the best,
minimalist solo artist Park follow standing spellbound as Williams
ing up EE, but what Park lacked in i spoke on the state of the nation
complexity, he made up for in his with cutting wit.
• Last on the bill was Cursive, the
message. Park is anything but the
typical “middle-aged guy who Omaha band with a nationwide fol
strums on an acoustic guitar and lowing. As usual, vocalist and front
whines about his life;” his lyrics man Tim Kasher seemed intoxicat
focus on tip? social critique of ed)but that didn’t put a damper on
humanity on a social and global their performance, as they tore
level. Park kept with his famous* through songs from their two
tongue-and-cheek: satire, with such releases, “Domestica” and “The
lines as “Palestine is free; we just Ugly Organ,” as well as new songs,
forgot to tell Israel.”
led by Kasher’s signature unapolo-
getically out-of-tunc vocals.
After an energizing arid inspir
Kasher also took time out to
ing set, Park introduced the tour’s
black sheep, rapper Saul Williams, show his support for the cause and
but concert-goers were in for a sur his disgust for the President.
“All you people who are vot
ing against Kerry,” Kasher said.
“Do you really want four more
years of Bush?”
Cursive’s set ended with five
(yes, five) encores, beginning
with “A Gentleman Caller,” its
whispering outro lyrics amended
for the politically charged envi
ronment. They then moved into
the catchy “Art is Hard” and
later closed with the energized
“Some Red-Handed Sleight of
Hand,” which was gr<
raised fists and peace sii
As Cursive took their
there was a feeling in tl
feeling of unity, sometl
transcended all bounds ai
the audience and the bar
one cause. Powerful mus
powerful message, wh
could one ask for?
For more informatioi
Plea for Peace Foundat
www.pleaforpeace.com.
ri
11
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