Man Overboard: The Counterfeit Resurrection of Phil Champagne - Softcover

Barer, Burl

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0990557367 ISBN 13: 9780990557364

Publisher: WildBlue Press, 2014

Synopsis

1982: Oregon businessman Phil Champagne, age 52, dies in a tragic boating accident off Lopez Island. He is survived by one ex-wife, four adult children, an octogenarian mother, and two despondent brothers. Phil didn't know he was dead until he read it in the paper. All things considered, he took it rather well. So did Phil's brother, Mitch, the beneficiary of a 1.5 million dollar policy on Phil's life.1992: Wastington restauranteur Harold Stegeman, famous for his thick, juicy steaks, is arrested by the Secret Service for printing counterfeit United States currency in an Idaho shed. In addition to the bogus bills, Stegeman also has a fraudulently obtained passport, a fabricated Cayman Island drivers license, and Phil Champagne's fingerprints.When the uproarious reality of Harold Stegeman's secret identity hit the headlines, the counterfeit resurrection of Phil Champagne became one of the most celebrated and hysterically funny true-crime stories of the twentieth century. And while every supermarket tabloid and television talk show hounded after the untold story, only Edgar Award winner Burl Barer captured Champagne's confidence and received permission to detail Phil's post-mortem career of fraud, deception, trickery, lies, and fine prime rib, bringing to life the exploits of a man his family thought dead over a decade ago.

About this title

Review

"Phil Champagne is the last of the great gentleman crooks. I really liked the guy."- Special Agent Lyle Workman, US Secret Service (ret.) "Crisp as a freshly printed C-note. Exceptionally clever and vastly entertaining!"-Lee Goldberg, author, screenwriter and television producer "Barer does it again! A deft and dazzling display of solid research and rapier wit-a must for all true crime aficionados."-Gary C. King, author of To Die For "True crime at its best. ... Barer has undeniable talent, pizzaz and imagination!"-Jack Olsen, bestselling author and award-winning journalist

About the Author

Burl Barer is an Edgar Award winning author of fiction and non-fiction, and is best known for THE SAINT, CAPTURE THE SAINT, and many best selling True Crime classics. Regarded as one of America’s premier investigative journalists, his true crime books such as BODY COUNT, HEAD SHOT, MOM SAID KILL, BROKEN DOLL, FATAL BEAUTY, MURDER ON 9/11, MANLING WILLIAMS’ DEADLY SINS, and MURDER IN THE FAMILY are required reading in many criminology classes and among true crime fans. On September 18, he will initiate his association with WildBlue Press by publishing the 20th Anniversary edition of MAN OVERBOARD: The Counterfeit Resurrection of Phil Champagne. Replete with the dark humor Barer is known for as well as his journalistic skills, this WildBlue Press edition has been updated and revised to reflect the past twenty years since the book first came out. In 2014, Barer completed the important historical work, LOVE AT THE COST OF LIFE, an oral history of the persecution of Iran’s Baha’i religious minority following the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Barer was born in Walla Walla, Washington on August 8, 1947. He says he’s been writing since he first “scratched pictographs on the cave wall.” In 1994, Barer received an Edgar Award for his book The Saint. The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Television, and Film was first published in 1992 and republished in 2003. Research on a second edition expanded over the time period of 1992 to 2013 to include everything about the character of Simon Templar. He has written two novels about the character, each published in 1997. One titled The Saint, the other titled Capture the Saint. Barer also worked with Producer William J. MacDonald to create a two-hour screenplay, The Saint in New Orleans, as a pilot episode for a new Saint TV series that was set to begin filming in 2011. After several delays, the production was shut down. The screenplay was then cut down to an hour by another screenwriter. In 2013 Adam Rayner, who played Simon Templar, was chosen as the new lead actor. Writing is just one of Barer’s many successes. In the 1980’s, Barer and Kenneth H. Thompson established Barer Cable Advertising, Inc., a cable television advertising interconnect in Eastern Washington. In 2012, Barer and Don Woldman reunited as contributors to various true crime-related specials and discussions on Hart D. Fisher’s American Horrors channel, featured as part of the basic tier of channels offered on filmon.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: WildBlue Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0990557367
• ISBN 13: 9780990557364
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 260