Story of the Week

On Wednesday, Red Fraggle and I were on a plane to, of all places, Des Moines. I was reading the NY Times, and we both noticed in the obituary section that Paul Vance, the writer of the "classic" song Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini had died (for the first time). Red Fraggle commented that she was sad to see his passing but that, we thought, was the end of the story.

We were wrong. I never thought this story could be a possible movie, but in yesterday's paper it is reported that Mr. Vance is, in fact, alive. It turns out that the guy who died--one Paul Van Valkenburgh--simply told his wife (and others) that he had written the song. I guess if one is going to claim to have written a song, it is much more believable to have written this ditty than, say, Freebird. And, of course, his real name and the composers are quite similar. What else did this guy make up? Is there more to the story? I want to read more about Mr. Van Valkenburgh, who has pathological liar potential. I'm curious to get the full story.