Word: impostor
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DIED. Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr., 60, audacious faker and inspiration for the 1960 movie The Great Impostor; of a heart attack; in Anaheim, Calif. Although he never finished high school, Demara successfully masqueraded as a Trappist monk, college philosophy teacher, cancer researcher, deputy prison warden and Canadian naval surgeon aboard a destroyer during the Korean War. His surgical feats, learned from textbooks, earned public praise that, in turn, led to his unmasking...
...Since he was a child, Chapman had attached himself to his hero's star, first as fan, then as imitator, finally as killer. Indeed, it is possible that in some distorted, Dostoyevskian mirror within his mind, he saw himself as Lennon-and the real Lennon as a threatening impostor...
...meeting early in the strike, a man rose and identified himself as a member of the local writers' union and pleaded for understanding for Communist Party Chief Edward Gierek. When a bona fide member of the writers' union and one shipyard worker denounced the man as an impostor and provocateur, a group of workers backed him against the wall. Walesa grabbed the microphone and warned, "If he is hit or even touched, I will give up the leadership." He then called for 20 workers to escort the man from the hall and admonished, "Don't whistle...
...deputy commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, and demand a bribe for himself. But Cook's memory apparently failed him at the critical moment. Weinberg asked his name. "Nopo," replied Cook. "Nopo?" asked Weinberg in disbelief. "Yeah, Nopo," said Cook. "N-o-p-o. "Suspecting an impostor, Weinberg ordered Cook to leave. As the tape was shown, laughter rippled through the courtroom; even Judge George Pratt cracked a smile...
Kennedy also called Ronald Reagan to report that, if nominated, he hoped he could join Anderson and the Governor in three-way debates. Receiving the call, Reagan aides suspected an impostor was on the line. They got Kennedy's private phone number, then his office number, called back on both and finally decided that the Senator was indeed phoning. Reagan said he had no objection to a three-way debate if Anderson was then a serious candidate. Reagan actually hopes that Carter will be nominated; he considers him the weakest possible opponent...