The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-08-29
Walter WincheII Or BY0QdzvQy

thur L. Clarke, and pointed this out to him. I wasn't sure-I simply felt that, had Col. Bill Cody had a son who married Annie Oakley, I would have known of it. Clarke, who had started me in the busi- ness, ordered the story held, though we were near the deadline. I had not written or reported it. Another man was covering the court; I chanced to be there on an angle of a running assignment. Clarke hastily telephoned to a man who had once been the advance agent for Buffalo Bill; he said Annie was no daughter-in-law, and, moreover, she was fine Christian woman.
 Clarke changed the lead from Annie Oakley, world-famous rifle shot today was convicted . etc" to read, "A woman claiming to be Annie Oakley -. etc, today-was convicted"
 Next day there was panic and pandemonium in almost every news paper in the land-but not ours.
 Annie Oakley had turned up, liv- ing in Nutey, N, J., respected and respectable lady, who hadn't been in Chicago in months.
 Retractions were of little use. Annie Oakley started suing and made a postscript career of it. Most of the newspapers settled.
 But, by saying "A woman who claimed to be Annie Oakley" we were safe. We had reported the exact facts. The prisoner, under oath, had said she was Annie Oak ley,
 I was awarded a bonus for being wide awake.
 And it taught me to be on the lookout for imperSonators.
 Through the years that followed. I have been impersonated, too not only by men, but by women.
 One attractive girl telephoned a commercial school and. saying she was Jack Lait-that was her pen name-she would like to address the students. She did. She got no money for it. Her talk was sensible. It chanced that my secretaryss sis ter was in that class. She had never seen me, but she had heard her sister speak of me, and was sure II was no female. She didn't pro- test, but told the teacher, later Tho cchOo1 called me
 I never could cacth up with that imposter. or discover what her ob- ject was.
 More than once. I have been approached by members of families in which girl was being Wooed by man who said he was Jack Lait. Only this very week, jittery mother appealed to me not to elope with her 18-year old daughter. The girl was infatuated with a man whc said he was Lait, told all about how he gathered material for my columns promised her a national "Write-up" a term no newspaper man ever would use) if she would marry him. We broke that one up
 In some instances. fakers even bought copies of my books and autographed them to girls they were courting.
 One such girl, not suspicious, but wanting to see her boy friend on some matter, barged into the office, called for me and sent in her name. I wanted to know what business she had with me. She scornfully told my secretary: "Busl- ness? We're going to be married. Isn't that business enough?"
 I had her brought in. She ln- dignantly called me a liar and a faker-I was the imposter.
 I paraded her around the office, asked every person in sight, before her. Who am I?" They looked astonished. I eXplained-I wanted to be identified They said, of course, I was Jack Lait.
 Half convinced. but furious at ME-she pranced out.
 She later wrote me blazing let ter-that I had ruined her life; that the impersonation was rather harmless-he had done it only in his zeal to impress and win her; that if I had kept my big mouth shut, everything would have turned out lovely.
 And she sent ME back the books had written, which HE had auto- graphed. and said she never wanted to see my name again.
 tracked that bird down. He was a shoe-clerk I had a detective bring him in-not under arrest, just informally
 He was frustrated Would-be writer. Instead of being repentant and ashamed, he demanded by what right I got bylines, when he could write rings around me-if he could only get the chance.
 He tried to make out case that instead of impersonating me, I was really impersonating him-that :! by luck, and probably influence was where he rightfully should have been
 I let it go I let him go, too.
 I still hear from him occasionally He lost his passion for writing. He's the assistant manager of the shoe store,