michelleholcolm

Hi guys,

I am sure some of you have already heard Joey Skaggs died the other day. I know what you are thinking ... it must be one of Joey's hoaxes, right? I checked with a friend and he said that Joey's close friend, Boris Cibej penned a tribute in the Slovenian paper, Delo. As Skaggs was hated by the mainstream press here in the states, I don't see this getting the front page. This bit came from ABC news. I nipped it from another board.

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-Media Antagonist Dead at 58-

Joseph 'Joey' Skaggs, arguably the nation's most pervasive and tenacious social satirist and media critic, was pronounced dead at 4:32 PM EDT July 23, 2003 at Greenwich Village Hospital due to complications experienced during surgery to remove a tumor from the base of his spine. Skaggs was 58 years old.

Joey Skaggs gained notoriety as a cunning media prankster and hoax 'artist' in as early as 1966 and is most well known for his elaborate Kea So Joo or Dog Meat Soup hoax (1994). Skaggs, using the moniker 'Kim Yung Soo' sent letters to dog shelters around America soliciting their unwanted dogs for ten cents a pound. While some recipients shrugged the letter off as a joke, many of the shelters contacted the media, animal abuse groups, and government authorities to report the solicitation. News organizations, television and print, quickly embraced the story as truth without making any real effort to verify the reports. What ensued, was a national uproar of unbelievable proportions. For his fans, it cannot be said that Skaggs was malicious or engaged in acts such as these simply for fame. Many considered Skaggs an artist of esteemed moral character. The 'Dog Soup' hoax, as Skaggs commented many times, was meant to spotlight America's cultural disconnect with the rest of the world, its racial biases, and animal-eating hypocrisy. Skaggs was not loved by all and perhaps even reviled by some media groups for his antics. The significance of his contribution to modern culture will no doubt surface in the coming years as his stunts are analyzed more closely by a media that was frequently stung by his amazing con jobs.

-Buck Wolf for ABC News

The following links are but a small sampling of the bizarre and impressive life of Joey Skaggs.

http://www.hoaxes.com/html/comm/comm.html
http://www.aloha-hawaii.com/4issue/skaggs.shtml
http://www.joeyskaggs.com/html/baba.html
http://www.speaking.com/speakers/joeyskaggs.html

Love, Chelle

Arken

I've been a fan of Skaggs' work for years and I'll miss hearing about his latest exploit. My all-time favorite Skaggs pranks were his Hippie Bus Tour of Queens where he took a group of stoned-out hippies through suburban straight-laced neighborhoods and announced from the PA as if it were a safari in Africa and his regular crashing of Easter parades dressed as Jesus dragging a cross.

Of course... maybe this obituary is just Joey's latest prank.

michelleholcolm

Yes, the Hippie Bus was great. I particularly like the Dog Cat-House where people could (as the reporting went) bring their dogs in to get laid for $50.

I was pretty convinced the story could be a Skaggs hoax and I am not completely sure it isn't. In some other circles though, it is being talked about as if it is real. Problem is, it is very difficult to verify. It is too new to come up on Google and none of the major news networks are carrying the story ... but then, that isn't surprising really. This is supposedly from ABC News, but I couldn't find it in a search on ABC's web site. However, I always have a hard time finding particular topics as they disappear quickly and don't really archive everything in a manner that is easy to sort through. I think we'll have to wait a day or two to see if the independent press starts reporting it. Until then, maybe it is true, maybe it isn't. If it is, I am sad.

Does anyone know if Skaggs was atheist?

-love Chelle