I'm ready to wash my hands and be done with this sad little tale, more thoroughly delineated in my previous post (Click HERE for that story). But first, one last little bit has come up.
To those familiar with the Facebook pages of 'Eric Rowe-Price' or 'Malcolm Rockefeller', the pleasant looking fellow above is the face they knew as Eric. Probably none of you who read the previous post will be surprised to learn that this picture is not of Eric/Malcolm but someone else entirely. His name is unimportant, and I won't give it here to respect his privacy. What matters is that this is not the real Eric, who is, um, plumper. At this point it isn't even clear if this guy knows that he was used as 'Eric Rowe-Price'. The unsuspecting man had an open Facebook page, filled with happy photos of himself and his fiance and friends leading their lives. Eric stole their pictures, and re-captioned them as his own. The guy's fiancee, in the recaptioned pictures, became Eric's BFf, 'Gabriella Crowninshield'. In another example, a picture of the guy on stage at a comedy conference was recycled by Eric as 'Eric at Davos'. Yes, Davos. Delusions of grandeur know no limits, apparently. (Needless to add, this man's Facebook pages are now locked.)
It's a sad story, because one doesn't like to think of anyone, at best feeling so inadequate that he has to make up a life that makes him feel more worthy or more interesting, or at worst, scamming innocent people. Equally, one is sad to think that someone would so willingly lie on such a scale to people who had only offered him friendship and believed what he said. Many of the people who had formed online or real life friendships with him did so not because he was a 'Rockefeller' or because they hoped for a ride on his jet. They liked him for his wit and his love of books--in short for the things that were real. In my own life, I've had the pleasure of knowing many people from many rungs of the ladder, and my affection and respect, or lack thereof, for any of them rarely had anything to do with their fame or fortune (or again, lack thereof).
Pity that his talent for play-writing wasn't better directed. He has a real voice and a talent for character delineation. He might have been the next A.R. Gurney. Instead, he is wanted by the police on two separate warrants involving fraud, forgery, theft and parole violation.
Pity that his talent for play-writing wasn't better directed. He has a real voice and a talent for character delineation. He might have been the next A.R. Gurney. Instead, he is wanted by the police on two separate warrants involving fraud, forgery, theft and parole violation.
And the real Eric Price
31 comments:
Now I see what all the fuss was about, the interest
in the blog and his Facebook page~"Eric" was adorable!
A cutie with literary taste and a distinguished family
into the bargain. Who could ask for more? When ever I
get round to doing my own blog, do not be surprised
to find that I look exactly like Cary Grant...
But Toby, of course you look just like Cary Grant--just as I look remarkably like George Clooney. I shan't be surprised at all...
If Reggie gets to look like Philip van Rensselaer, you two can look however you like.
The congestion of self-reference would have thrown me off; I lack your patience. But "he" was cute as a bug.
so now I am going backwards with these posts, I see-though I know what is coming. thanks to a very wise Mr. I got wind of frognall back in the summer when he was ill and his equally darling Aunt stepped in to the breach to keep FD going. So they say you must kiss many frogs to find the Prince-it sounds as if Frog was busy doing the like to himself-whoopsie.pgt
Hmm. I was just wondering to myself the other day about good ol' Frognall, as I was a casual reader of his blog. I thought I'd take a stroll over there to check in and found it had disappeared. I figured something unfortunate had befallen him, what with the "illness" and all.
How incredibly fascinating and frightening! And cheers to you for your sleuthing. It did make me consider how I may be perceived as I do use a nom de plume on my blog. This is merely to protect my blog and all creative material within from the ownership of my employer as we have one of those tricky little clauses in our contracts. Now I feel I have to prove my identity!
Appreciate all of the detective work and, of course, that you generously shared it with us. What a terrific introduction to your blog!
MT
I appreciate the follow-up, though the story may go on and I hope you keep us all posted should developments materialize. But I recall that many have felt that the blogger in question had done a shoddy job of it, and with that in mind I must say, attractive as the man in the photo might seem to be, I would never have cast him in the role of Eric. First of all, he looks British to me: the Pink shirt, the solid-color tie hanging loose, the bed hair. I would expect to see him sitting next to me on a stool at Pret-a-manger on Oxford Street eating a plastic-wrapped turkey and bacon sandwich on whole wheat bread before heading back to the dull little office job he can't wait to dump. The way we look is in our DNA and there's little we can do about it; good or bad (and I make no value judgment here) this lad, bless his heart, is not from the background Eric claims as his own.
haha, Ancient, I'll make sure you get an invite to the costume ball.
Little Augury, indeed quite a story,
Ah, but Modern Traditionalist, the hook here is that Eric was quite busy promoting his Facebook fiction as reality to a lot of unsuspecting people---quite different from merely having a nom de blog.
I can't get enough of this story! I can see why you were so intrigued by it. You deserve a TV show, Fletcher!
I went to bed after reading the disappointing life of Frognall Dibdin...and woke up thinking about Jay Gatsby and how similar and different these two characters are. I do wish someone would write this story...or play. It is a fascinating descent into cyberworld and the overwhelming need to be someone else. And the other question...where is uncrowned Prince now?
DED: A sad and sordid tale, indeed.
Dearest Ancient: Unlike Monsieur la Grenouille, Reggie did not seek to pass himself off as the Lord of the van Rensselaer Manor, but rather he used said fellow's image humorously, and was careful to provide a clearly-written disclaimer in the post you are referencing that he was, in fact, not him. Sniff!
Sorry, but to me he looks like the scruffy fellow at the local Starbucks - in need of a shave, unpressed shirt, with the collar unbuttoned. Just your average schlub.
"Sorry, but to me he looks like the scruffy fellow at the local Starbucks - in need of a shave, unpressed shirt, with the collar unbuttoned. Just your average schlub."
..with that early James Spader appeal.
Reggie: That wasn't really you?
Home Before: It's a peculiarly American story, isn't it? Someone ruining his own life for something that isn't his and can't be. I've taken no pleasure from telling this one.
Anonymous, nothing ordinary about that schlub at all---he'd founded a multi-million dollar website while still in college---as is often the case with those schlubs one sees at Starbucks (and hence his facebook pages so full of yachts and private jets and Hamptons parties that so attracted Eric to use them as his own.
Flo, see above, and I'm with you on this one.
How do you know that the real Eric is, um, plumper? I've known him all his life, and you are quite correct. Just wondering how you would know that...
Never mind, I went back and read the full version...your Maine bookseller friends saw 'Malcolm' in the flesh. I trust that his hair is pretty thin by now as well?
Anonymous, last summer there was briefly a photo of 'Malcolm' at a Thomaston Place book auction, posted, if memory serves me, on a book blog by one of his former friends, although it may have been on his own. Since then, another photo has been in circulation on a scam alert amongst Maine dealers.
I personally have no dog in this fight, although I do very much mind people who go out of their way to push their untruths in my direction to no purpose, or who scams as many nice people who only offered him friendship, as Eric did. I would not have posted this had it not already become national news.
We totally understand your feelings. We are some of his former friends whom he scammed (in person) about ten years ago. A whole fake life with a phony rich girlfriend (Sabrina VonSchremerhorn) and, of course, a jet. We laughed so hard reading your blog...that describes Eric so perfectly. We too gave him the benefit of the doubt for the same reasons you did. How could anyone make up anything as incredible as he did and expect it to be believed? It simply had to be true. But is was not. Eric has betrayed the trust of every single person to ever enter the 'stage' of his life. Don't feel bad, you are not among the first, or the closest, betrayed friends. We always joked about writing a book detailing Eric's tall tales-- perhaps we could write the first chapters and you could pick up from there.
All I can say is Wow.
Such a strange sad story - but addictive to read. And a lesson to all of us about identity!!
so, removed as i am from all the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan society that you all enjoy, i seek enlightenment. beyond being really entertaining, how did this schmuck profit from this totally phony story?
security word def - "diadau" - texting contraction referring to man with two female children.
stories like this continue to astound me. really!
I never met the man. But he wrote a charming note, be-friended me on Facebook, called the next day and invited me to his house in Boston for tea. Then he started flirting...
Stranger still: the man's status with photos surfaced on Facebook around 10 days ago- as tagged by an 'uncle'. The pictures were careful not to show his face. All done now.
When Eric was in high school, he tried to pass his dad off as a corporate executive with the Hathaway shirt company. Naturally, they had a private jet at their disposal. In reality, the only jet his dad had was a Swiffer Jet, as he was the night janitor at the factory.
For those of you who think he is all about harmless stories, please check out the MBNA case in more detail, and then perhaps you can have him over for tea.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fqRJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fw0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2930,842096&dq=eric-price+mbna&hl=en
Turner, he violated trust on many levels, and is guilty of criminal behavior in the past.
Quintessence and Ornamentalist, me too.
Voice Talk, very interesting.
Anonymous, thanks for filling in another part of the puzzle.
"..beyond being really entertaining, how did this schmuck profit from this totally phony story?"
Psychological profit, I would guess; far beyond non-professional understanding. With each contact, with each person believing his story, he profited. On and on. And on.
Oh, DED, this is one of the most horrific parts of the story. wow.
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2011/01/21/living_a_double_lie/
"http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2011/01/21/living_a_double_lie/"
DED, you've been unmasked; here's to YOU!
Miss Eric . . . sittin' there like a spider . . . Luv the pic. Yummy scones, hey?
Post a Comment