Faker. Lowdown on low down Chi/Trib columnist Bob Greene, a victim of Bill Clinton's Disease

http://www.nancynall.com/ | 9/16/02 | nancynall.com

[IncPen]

I worked in Chicago media for over 10 years.

I knew.

[MoodyBlu]

It is wrong to exult in the misfortunes of others. I keep telling myself that. Nevertheless, this was a gravy-train dismount years in the making.

What a great line that could apply to every smarmy politician and/or celebrity in our pitiful society. You just can't be doing the interns or teenagers!

[csvset]

During the last year the woman phoned Greene twice, sources said.

According to the e-mail, on the day after the second time, she received a call from the FBI suggesting she may be posing a threat to the columnist.

Any truth to this? Did she want some money, perhaps she was lonesome, what?

Perhaps Greene had seen Play Misty For Me, too many times and was spooked.

What context did Greene write about this "late teen" anyways? Is the original column available?

[IncPen]

I've been asking around, and no one seems to know any details. I'm of the opinion that there was a veiled 'tabloid threat' in there somewhere, and it spooked the Tribune.

Who knows.

Tomorrow afternoon a Chicago DJ (Steve Dahl) is coming in from vacation to do a 2 hour special (5-7pm, WCKG 105.9) on Greene. I know Dahl, and if anyone will have the scoop, it's him. His guest on the show is going to be Ed Gold (whose real name is Steinberg, I think). Gold used to write the Bob Watch column (we read him so you don't have to!) for the Chicago Reader.

If I can, I'll listen and make a post if anything relevant is said.

[Balding_Eagle]

a victim of Bill Clinton's Disease.

LOL! whata line.

[Liz]

The best line, agreed. What drew me to the article and prompted the post. Says so much in so few words.

[Liz]

Thanks for the verification.

[cinFLA]

According to the e-mail, on the day after the second time, she received a call from the FBI suggesting she may be posing a threat to the columnist.

I don't know anything about this case but it is common for journalists to notify police authorities of anyone they are "afraid" of.

[Liz]

Usually in such cases, the event cited is just one in a series that caused the problem.

As in the actress Wynona Rider's theft case. It has come out that she made a ritual of this - shoplifting pricey stores, cutting off electronic price tags, etc.

Word gets around and I betcha other lesser knowns did the same thing - maybe Wynona even told them how to do it.

Finally I surmise the store got sick of it and decided to prosecute the actress, to make lots of waves, to show they would not countenance this anymore.

The fact that the store had all the proof they needed to go to court shows they were lying in wait for her, knew exactly what shw was going to do, b/c she had done it so many times before.

[Wright is right!]

It really is amazing what you see and hear when working IN the media. You learn things that you NEVER print or put on the air - but gain context from nonetheless. Things like this become what are called "well-known secrets." There isn't a media market in the country that doesn't have its share of "who's boinking whom" and people who cling to elevated pay grades despite performing yawningly pedestrian work. Everyone in the media knows and knows whom, how, and why. You don't say anything because to do so is a career-killer.

Bob Greene always amazed me with his dazzling ability to churn out wretchedly-ordinary 8th-grade book-report prose and earn a big-city paycheck for it. To paraphrase an old radio buddy who now does mornings in Vegas, it's as if Bob sat down one day and wrote ONE very long column...and each deadline, he'd just hack off a piece of it and turn it in. Like another chorus of "Hey, Jude." Or "Second verse, same as the first," from "Henry The Eighth" by Herman's Hermits.

There was, in 1968, a DJ on WKNR in Detroit named Bob Greene (same spelling) who did on radio pretty much the same thing the columnist did in the paper - sound bland as tapioca and get paid for it. I always wondered if they were the same guy.

I just hope Greene has some bucks in his 401-k.

Michael

[IncPen]

Great post.

There were alot of things 'known, not shown'.

For instance, before Micahel Jordan was 'the man', he was a new player on the Bulls who got a girl in trouble. His manager told him, as an up and comer, that he should marry her, and he did. But rumors abounded after the marriage.

I knew women who were hit-on by Clinton and Jesse Jackson, and sports heroes now departed who were less than holy.

There is a clique that knows, to be sure, but not all of it is bad.

Oprah Winfrey was pretty much as presented (genuine, friendly and generous) in my experience

[NYCVirago]

If you follow the link, you know the details: Greene had "a sexual encounter" with a girl in her "late teens" some years ago. The firing offense was that he wrote about her, a violation of Trib ethics. Given that the boning came sometime after the column appeared would seem to make the offense repugnant but ultimately niggling; as many have suggested, if it's a crime to sleep with someone you met on the job, half the newsroom had best be dusting off resumes.

Good points!

[texasbluebell]

I'm sort of amazed by this photo of him taken in 1979--it was carried in one of the Chicago papers yesterday. It was taken as a joke apparently, but kind of creepy nonetheless.

[Liz]

That is creepy. Don't know why but the pic reminds me of John Wayne Gacy. Weird.

[IncPen]

Creepy yes. Narcisisstic too.

[texasbluebell]

Narcisisstic too.

Interesting point. And I made a note to listen to the Dahl broadcast Wed. Should be an eye-opener to a lot of us in Chicago. Thanks for the heads-up.

[texasbluebell]

Too weird for words, really.

[Tom Pain]

"I wanna be a cowboy!!!"

Man, what a weird photo! Sort of a crazy, confused phase between "Saturday Night Fever" and "Urban Cowboy".

[Trickyguy]

I worked as a journalist, too. Twenty years ago I had teenage girls telling me about Greene hitting on them.