PAUL MACLEOD IS A PERPETUALLY OVERLY-CAFFEINATED ELVIS FANATIC WHO'S TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS 24-7-365 AT THE ANTEBELLUM HOME HE CALLS "GRACELAND TOO". POUND ON THE DOOR AT ANY TIME, SERIOUSLY, IT'S OK TO ARRIVE AT 4 IN THE MORNING, AND THE 67 YEAR OLD FORMER AUTO WORKER WILL ESCORT YOU THROUGH HIS DISCOMBOBULATING, FLOOR TO CEILING COLLECTION OF PHOTOS, RECORDS, FIGURINES, CARDBOARD CUTOUTS, CANDY WRAPPERS, CLOCKS AND OTHER RANDOM KITSCH FEATURING THE KING OF ROCK 'N' ROLL. 'ID GIVE MY LIFE RIGHT NOW IF I COULD BRING THIS GUY BACK', MACLEOD SAYS IN HIS AUCTIONEER'S STACCATO, HIS GRAY HAIR SLICKED BACK IN A 1950s STYLE. MACLEOD SAYS HE RARELY LEAVES GRACELAND TOO, SLEEPS ONLY SPORADICALLY AND IS FUELED BY 24 CANS OF COCA COLA A DAY, A CLAIM AT LEAST PARTIALLY VERIFIED BY THE ALUMINUM PULL-TABS HE COLLECTS AND THE STACKS OF FLATTENED RED CARDBOARD BOXES ON THE BACK PORCH. GRACELAND TOO IS IN HOLLY SPRINGS, A NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI TOWN OF ABOUT 8,000. IT'S A CONVENIENT STOP FOR FANS ON AN ELVIS PILGRIMAGE, SITTING ABOUT HALFWAY BETWEEN PRESLEY'S BIRTHPLACE IN TUPELO, MISS., AND THE KING'S FINAL HOME AND RESTING PLACE, THE UNAFFILIATED GRACELAND MANSION IN MEMPHIS, TENN. UNTIL GRACELAND TOO BECAME A MAGNET FOR OFFBEAT TOURISM, HOLLY SPRINGS WAS BEST KNOWN FOR ITS TRADITIONAL, AND TASTEFULLY KEPT, WHITE-COLUMNED ANTEBELLUM HOMES. 'HE'S OUR NUMBER ONE ATTRACTION;, SAYS SUZANN WILLIAMS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE LOCAL TOURISM BUREAU. SHE SAYS THAT PEOPLE CALL DAILY WANTING INFORMATION ABOUT GRACELAND TOO, AND THAT THE JAPANESE AND THE BRITISH ARE THE LARGEST GROUPS OF OVERSEAS VISITORS. MACLEOD DOESN'T HAVE A TELEPHONE, BUT THE TOURISM OFFICE TAKE HIM NOTES TO LET HIM KNOW VISITORS ARE COMING.
FLOORS CREAK BENEATH VISITORS' FEET AS THEY WALK THROUGH THE 157 YEAR OLD HOME WARMED BY SPACE HEATERS THAT SIT PERILOUSLY CLOSE TO RAGGEDY SHAG CARPETS AND STACKS OF PAPERS AND MAGAZINES. FOR $5, VISITORS GET TO EXPERIENCE SENSORY OVERLOAD, HARSHLY LIT BY UNSHADED BULBS. DOORWAYS ARE DECORATED WITH SEVERAL ELVIS-PATTERNED CURTAINS IN THE '70s-ERA HUES OF TURQUOISE AND LIME. THERE ARE PHOTOGRAPHS OF A NEWSPAPER WITH MACLEOD'S ALL-TIME FAVORITE HEADLINE: 'ELVIS PRESLEY EXCITES GIRLS, SCARES CRITICS.' A POSTER-SIZED DISPLAY IN THE ENTRYWAY DECLARES 'THE UNIVERSES GALAXYS PLANETS WORLDS ULTIMATE ELVIS FANS.' MACLEOD SAYS HE HAS OWNED HIS HOME SINCE THE MID-1970s AND THAT HE'S HAD 368,000 VISITORS SINCE HE STARTED OPENING IT TO STRANGERS SINCE THE LATE 1980s OR EARLY 1990s. HEAVEN HELP THE FACT-CHECKER WHO'S HAVE TO VERIFY THE STATISTICS HE TOSSES OUT DURING THE TOURS, WHICH TYPICALLY LASTS AN HOUR AN A HALF. FANS SAY THE RANDOM, NONSTOP FLOW OF INFORMATION IS PART OF THE CAMPY APPEAL. MACLEOD SAYS THAT HE BECAME AN ELVIS FAN WHEN HE WAS 13, AND THAT HE ATTENDED OVER 120 CONCERTS. IN GRACELAND TOO, MACLEOD CLAIMS TO HAVE 35,000 RECORDS AND 25,000 CDS. HE SAYS HE HAS 185,000 SQUARE INCHES OF CARPET THAT ONCE WAS IN GRACELAND. THEN THERE'S THE SCRAPBOOK FILLED WITH TEENSY SLIVERS OF PAPER, 1 MILLION MENTIONS, HE SAYS, OF THE NAME ELVIS PRESLEY. THE CEILING OF THE TV ROOM IS COVERED WITH BASEBALL CARD-SIZE ELVIS PICTURES AND VISITOR COMMENTS PRINTED ON FLUORESCENT PINK, BLUE AND YELLOW PAPER. WROTE ONE MAN FROM PENSACOLA, FLA; 'THIS ELVIS SHRINE IS AS CLOSE TO HEAVEN AS AN ELVIS FAN CAN GET. THIS IS THE ULTIMATE.'
No comments:
Post a Comment