Only from Bemidji!!!!

John Rodgers
"88GL Driver

Bulley wrote:

> It took some sleuthing to figure it out, but I got the bottom of the
> Vanagon list!!!
>
> After two years of research, and back-tracing of e-mail, I now know The
> SHOCKING TRUTH!!!  The Vanagon list does NOT have 782 distinct
> members...only TWENTY-FIVE!!!
>
> That's right. The list was set up in 1994 by a smart Minnesota
> entrepreneur, Corby Arbuckle, to sell Vanagon parts, side tents, engine
> conversions, and all other VW-related stuff. To elude government
> intervention once he established a monopoly on the Vanagon after market, he
> decided to set up a mailing list that featured MULTIPLE "VENDORS"!!!  Who
> would have known?
>
> Arbuckle knew the list would need just enough 'chatter' to make it
> appealing to the handful of Vanagon owners who actually want to preserve
> their vans, so he hired two former VW mechanics, and two retired NYC copy
> writers.
>
> These four people actually create most of the banter you hear and see on
> the list, splitting their time and responses into 782 distinct 'characters'
> featured on the list. Each writer has a list of 195 personal vignettes they
> write for, each with a different personality and e-mail address to make the
> ruse complete. So the lists most notable voices are simply the imaginations
> of Mack Gunther, Cam Rollet, Irving Schmertz, and Sara Limm. The 17
> different list "vendors", from motor-builders and part sale folks to tent
> vendors, are all imaginary divisions of Arbuckle's VW empire...order from
> one, or the other, it's no difference, it is all Arbuckle.
>
> If you go to visit another listee, you are visiting a well-paid actor,
> supported by plenty of VW 'props' in the yard from Arbuckle's collection.
> Pretty crafty, huh.
>
> So it is just you, and a couple other real people, and the rest is just me,
> and Mack, and Cam, and Sara. Happy Friday. :)
>
> Irving Schmertz,
> Writer
> www.arbuckleVW.com
> Bemidji, MN