On! On! U of K On, on, U of K,
we are right for the fight today, Hold that ball and hit that line; Ev’ry Wildcat star will shine; We’ll fight, fight, fight, for the blue and white
As we roll to that goal, Varsity,
And we’ll kick, pass and run,
’till the battle is won,
And we’ll bring home the victory.
It’s a damn good read.
I read this book about 3 months ago. It’s a fascinating read. At the time I read it, though, I thought it to be all fiction. Recently, I found out that it’s based on real events and real people. Even if loosely based, it’s still amazing to me that anyone could be as foolish and idiotic as Pete. It’s mindboggling that anyone could do anything remotely resembling his acts of stupidity and treachery.
I have, in my travels, been witness to similar events. Bar girls using their wiles to goad foolish, naive men into handing over large sums of money. Men using women for sex while telling them that they love them and are going to marry them and take them home. Relationships began on completely false pretext. Everything. I’ve seen it somewhere.
But this book takes the cake. It was a fast and easy read. Stephen Leather gives a glimpse into the seedier side of Bangkok life. When you read it, realize that this is only a part of that life. It’s a small part as well. I’ve met hundreds of regular women and men in Thailand who aren’t constantly working a scam on some dumb farang. I’ve met people who straddle the line as well as the voyeurs who interact and watch but never participate. Life is fascinating in Bangkok. It can really twist up a weak soul. Wrap you around the wings of the dark angels and drag you down. DEEP into murky waters. It can also be a pleasant experience and uplifting. Depends on what and where you are seeking your experience.
Just be careful. It’s all about situational awareness as we say in Afghanistan. Keep your eyes open. Don’t be a fool.
Peace.
Thailand 1996. The Year Of The Rat. Pete, a young travel writer, wanders into a Bangkok go-go bar and meets the love of his life. Joy is the girl of his dreams: young, stunningly pretty, and one of the Zombie Bar’s top-earning pole dancers. What follows is a roller-coaster ride of sex, drugs and deception, as Pete discovers that his very own private dancer is not all that she claims to be. And that far from being the girl of his dreams, Joy is his own personal nightmare.
For many years Private Dancer was only available as a free download through my website. It became something of a cult classic and over the last five years was downloaded sixty thousand times from more than forty countries. I gleaned much of the information for the book sitting in a bar called Jool’s in Sukhumvit Soi 4, just down the road from Bangkok’s infamous Nana Plaza red light area. The owner, Big Dave, knows pretty much everything there is to know about Thailand, and he’s the basis for the Big Ron character in the book.
Hodder and Stoughton didn’t want to publish Private Dancer as it is so different from my regular thrillers, so I decided to publish the book myself in Thailand, through my own publishing company, Three Elephants. (Three Elephants is an anagram of Stephen Leather!)
The striking cover photograph, of a naked girl holding a cut-throat razor behind her back, was taken in Anglewitch Bar in Nana Plaza and features one of the bar’s top showgirls. It took us ages to find the right girl. When I originally wrote the book, the fashion was for the girls to grow their hair long. But these days they trend to cut it short, make it curly, or dye it red or blonde. I sat with my friend Andrew Yates for hours outside Nana Plaza in search of the right girl, but it seemed as if the only ones with long straight hair were the ladyboys! My pal Paul Owen took the photograph. I borrowed the cut-throat razor from my barber and it took us almost an hour to get the shot right. I’m really pleased with the result – think it’s one of my best covers.
The book got great reviews from Bernard Trink at the Bangkok Post and the Pattaya Mail, both taking the view that Private Dancer should be required reading for all visitors to the Land of Smiles. Forewarned is forearmed! I think it works so well because it gives the story from so many viewpoints, including several Thai characters. Most books about the Thai bar scene only give the Westerners point of view.
Private Dancer is available at all good book shops throughout Thailand, especially Bookazine and Asia Books outlets, and is also on sale at the airport. There is still a free download available of an early version of Private Dancer. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE DOWNLOAD. The book has more detail on what happened to the characters so if you enjoy the download you’ll want to buy the book eventually!
In 2005, Phil Tatham, who runs Monsoon Books in Singapore, wanted to add the book to his growing stable of publications, and I agreed to let him have publication rights for Singapore and Malaysia. You can also buy it on line through his website, www.monsoonbooks.com.sg.
Jerry Tipton has no integrity. That’s the bottom line. The lexington Herald Leader, apparently, has no integrity either.
Where is the PUBLIC APOLOGY to the Pattersons? He printed his lie publicly. He should print his apology publicly. It should be made just as prominent as the lies that Tipton printed.
This is the story which Matt Jones printed on his blog outting the lie printed by Jerry Tipton after Big Blue Madness:
In case you missed it earlier today, Jerry Tipton wrote a game report in which he commented on the fact that Patrick Patterson had a new truck. In his report, he said Patrick drove the new truck to the game and then “the fun figured to continue when he climbed in his new black truck and drove away.” Interesting story right? The problem is that according to Patterson’s mother, it is not true. I spoke this afternoon to Tywanna Patterson who said that Patrick didnt drive to the game in the truck or drive home afterwards, instead riding with his parents to dinner after the game. She also said that Patrick’s new truck isnt even kept primarily on campus and was a gift from his parents that will be kept primarily in Huntington. Patterson’s mother was upset at Tipton’s comments on the truck and said,
“I just dont appreciate him making false statements and comments. When he first interviewed me, he misquoted me about OJ Mayo when Patrick was in high school. I just wish he would stop doing that.”
The Patterson family has had issues with Tipton before and his father Buster Patterson, famously said to a line of Tipton’s questioning, “you just dont quit do you Jerry?” But as for the current issue, Tywanna Patterson simply says, “I just wish he would report on the game and not things that didnt happen.”
by Matt Jones @ 5:40 pm. Filed under Blue Blooded OpinionsI just spoke with Tywanna Patterson who said that an editor of the Herald Leader called her to apologize about the story. Apparently a comment or retraction of some sort will be in the paper tomorrow on the issue.
Below is the Jerry Tipton “retraction” as re-printed on KSR from the Tipton blog:
Clarification: Patterson’s new truck in Huntington
October 29th, 2009 | players |
I just had a pleasant conversation with Tywanna Patterson, the mother of Kentucky big man Patrick Patterson. She asked that a clarification be made about the game story on UK’s Blue-White Game.
Patterson did not drive his vehicle, a Lincoln Mark LT, to the game.
His parents did buy him the Lincoln Mark LT. The truck was “a gift for all his hard work,” his mother said.
The car remains in Huntington. Patterson’s parents intended the car as a Christmas present, she said.
UPDATE: Jerry Tipton clarifies the statement in his blog. Not exactly a retraction or explanation for why the story was wrong, but at least an acknowledgement.
Jerry Tipton fabricates a story about Patrick Patterson departing Big Blue Madness in “his new truck.” The story is highlighted by Matt Jones and Tywanna Patterson and proved to be a complete lie. Jerry Tipton merely states that it did not happen. No apology for the lie or the insinuation behind the lie.
Anyone with the ability to think independently can clearly see the implication behind the Tipton non-story. He’s mentioning the “new truck” as a way of outting what he perceives to be an NCAA violation. Apparently, Jerry Tipton thinks that the only way that a black student athlete or his family could afford a new truck is through extra-legal means or via NCAA violations of one sort or the other. What Jerry didn’t stop to think about is the fact that both of the Patterson parents are working Professionals. Jerry Tipton seems to me to be a closet racist. He probably doesn’t perceive himself that way but clearly he thinks that a Black Student Athlete has no business with a brand new truck.
Jerry, this is 2009. Not all Black Student Athletes come from the inner city of New York, Chicago or Atlanta. Plenty of college educated, professionals African-American or Black Adults out there. Many of them have children. Some of them have children who are quite talented. Plenty of them can afford to purchase vehicles for their children.
I think the Tipton act is getting old. Extremely old. With every event, Jerry Tipton will present a negative viewpoint concerning UK. Student violations during madness. Fabrications of Student Athletes driving off in illicitly gained vehicles.
There was absolutely no reason for Jerry to mention that Patrick Patterson had a new truck except to imply that it was a violation of NCAA regulations/rules.
Tipton is a muckraking, unprofessional cur with some kind of odd need to magnify any negative no matter how trivial concerning UKAA, UK Basketball or any UK Basketball Student Athlete.
I agree with the many folks out there saying that it’s time to put Jerry out of the business. UK fans and any responsible citizens out there should join in a boycott of any sponsors for any publication that prints the trifling bile that Jerry Tipton puts forth in the media. It’s time for Jerry Tipton’s reign of madness and negativity to end.
Truzenzuzex at A Sea of Blue talks about the Jerry Tipton lunatic agenda.
Larry Vaught talks to Momma Patterson and gives his take on his colleague.
Below is what Jerry posts about himself on his blog:
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.
His time on the job includes all of the above, but, not one decent article or column.
What a putz!
