Gossipmongers
Dishing dirt on the bigmouths of Denver.
Kreck, too, spills more than his fair share of ink about the Broncos and other similarly overexposed locals, but he usually anchors his columns with profiles of lesser-known types under the theory that while Colorado doesn't have an endless supply of world-renowned residents or visitors, it has plenty of interesting ones -- like mountaineer Jake Norton, sketched in a November 17 column, and Colorado Springs native Max Morath, a seventy-something ragtime pianist introduced in the November 8 edition. Kreck can be dishy at times, as when he needled the News's Parker on November 10 for printing the name of the downtown condo complex where Fox morning man Michael Floorwax keeps a place -- a decision Floorwax riffed about on the air. But Kreck's best stuff is generally warmer, and it sports a distinctively Denver flavor. "I don't consider what I do gossip," says Kreck, who's been at the Post since 1968 and has written his current column for fifteen years. "Gossip to me is, 'Who was that blonde you were having dinner with the other night?' -- and I don't do blind items. What I emphasize is more city kinds of things: oddball people and events in town with a bent toward history, because Denver has such a transient population, and I think a lot of newcomers don't grasp why things are the way they are." He adds, "Sometimes people refer to it as a city column, and I think that's about as close as anything to what it is."
In other words, Kreck doesn't try to turn the burg into something it's not. As for what Denver is, the gossip writings of Husted, especially, suggest a diagnosis of deep insecurity. Many of his columns seem intended to reassure readers who feel Denver can't compare to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or other hip areas that their community isn't as far out of the loop as they think. There's a heavy focus on city and state references in national publications (see a November 11 column dominated by the discussion of Denver in Travel & Leisure magazine and the November 14 dissection of Ski magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential Skiers," with an emphasis on the Coloradans cited), as well as ephemera about locals making good in the big city (typical is a November 18 bit about a Boulder High grad now acting on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful). The underlying message in all of this seems to be "They noticed us!" Such neediness becomes even more obvious when it's juxtaposed with, for instance, who-cares hearsay such as a November 18 blurb about a paintball game starring Liberty Media mega-buckster Peter Barton that included David Koff (another Liberty Media bloke), Bruce Karpas (described as a "deluxe daycare boss") and former Channel 4 sports anchor Les Shapiro, who seems to believe that frequent appearances in gossip columns will inevitably lead to a new gig. At least there's a chance that the average Post subscriber is familiar with Barton and Shapiro, but Koff and Karpas got their monikers in bold largely because Husted needs stars -- and if there aren't enough real ones around here, he's damn well going to manufacture some himself. To write a gossip column in Denver, there's really no other choice -- but Husted hopes his attitude helps readers over any rough spots. "Sometimes there isn't a lot to write about, so I try to spin it a certain way to make it amusing to read. I sometimes compare this kind of column to a comic strip: They're not always funny, but they're always there."
During her first six weeks or so on board the gossip train, Parker has occasionally leaned Husted's way, especially when it comes to starmaking: Those given the bold treatment just for being them have included "financial consultant" Mary Kelley, "Zaidy's Deli owner" Gerard Rudofsky, "Junior Leaguer" Debbie Hoellen and "PR divas" Wendy Aiello and Nancy Gallinghouse, who may be very nice people but are a very long way from being household names -- unless it's at the Parker household. There have also been enough Elway items to choke the Broncos' mascot, including an oversized photo of Big John posing with his Alaskan malamute and an accompanying item about the "Purina Incredible Dogs Calendar" on November 18 and a November 23 followup about how fans can get a copy of the calendar for their very own, plus more about the dining and nightlife habits of Bronco Brian Griese, various Colorado Avalanche skaters and Denver TV types like Channel 9 weather guy Ed Greene than anyone really needs to know. Parker has also resorted to some ridiculous padding; she detailed her family's trip to Disney World in her November 2 column (as if no one's ever been there before) and offered a blow-by-blow about her appearance at the "Denver Taste Celebrity Grape Stomp Off" on November 5. But she's shown promise when she's drawn on her reporting background, which may turn out to be her secret weapon.
"Reporting is a big part of this," Parker confirms. "To get a little three- or four-inch item, the reporting is no different from what you have to do for a fifteen- or twenty-inch business story. I'm still making as many phone calls as I ever did."
