Fred Demara; The Great Imposter - By John

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   ravirajan01posted 20 months ago

   John tells the story of Fred Demara, a notorious American imposter who conned several people due to his uncanny disguises and ability to get into the role through his fast learning abilities.
   
   He reminds me of  Frank Abagnale, the con artist immortalized in celluloid by Leonardo Dicaprio's movie "Catch me if you can."It is uncanny that both Fred and Frank almost follow the same trajectory in life. Thanks, John for sharing this exciting bit of true crime. The link is below.
   
   https://hubpages.com/politics/Fred-Dema … t-Imposter

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      Jodahposted 20 months agoin reply to this

      Yes, Ravi, I saw the similarities with Frank Abagnale’s story portrayed in “Catch Me if You Can” as well. It is quite amazing that two imposters/con men could lead such similar lives. Thank you for sharing.

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      Carb Divaposted 20 months agoin reply to this

      What an amazing story. St. Martins is near my younger daughter's home and my husband's office, so I know it well (beautiful campus to walk through). It has a reputation as being VERY liberal so I guess I'm not surprised that Demara was able to pull off his ruse there. The similarities between he and Abagnale are striking. At least (when you review his resume) it seemed he was focussed on helping others.

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         Jodahposted 20 months agoin reply to this

         Linda, after researching this I actually have to say I admire Demara. He seemed to use his intellect/abilities to do good. He actually saved lives as a surgeon, founded a college, and was praised for his work in almost every instance such as the prison counsellor, and chaplain etc.
         Thank you for sharing about St. Martins.

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      Readmikenowposted 20 months agoin reply to this

      Interesting you should mention Frank Abagnale.
      
      I had written a story about him and posted it here on Hubpages.  A man from England contacted me and provided all sort of information that showed everything Abagnale claimed in his book and in the movie were pretty much false.
      
      He provided links to newspaper articles, articles written by people who knew Abagnale as well as articles written by former law enforcement who dealt with him. 
      
      Having his movie and book come out and being believed may be Abagnale's biggest con of all.
      
      I took the article down as it was proven to me that everything in it was false.

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         Jodahposted 20 months agoin reply to this

         That is very interesting. So, Fred Demara, it seems can rightly claim the mantle of The Greatest Imposter, if his main rival Frank Abagnale has been proved to be a fake fake lol.

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            Readmikenowposted 20 months agoin reply to this

            To his faking credit, Frank Abagnale was able to fake his way into a bestselling book and a successful Hollywood movie.  In the realm of being a fake, this is pretty good.
            
            He got paid a good sum of money for the book and movie.
            
            Fred Demara also had a successful book and movie, but his cons were real.

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   surovi99posted 20 months ago

   That was a beautiful presentation of the imposter, Fred Demara. I don't usually like politics or crimes. But this one I really enjoyed. Thank you for sharing the well-crafted write-up, John.
   
   Thanks, Ravi, for sharing John's post.

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   Jodahposted 20 months ago

   Thank you, Rosina, for reading something outside your normal choice of reading. Although Demara committed crimes of impersonation he never really harmed anyone.

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      surovi99posted 20 months agoin reply to this

      This is the reason why I enjoyed reading the account so much. Thank you!

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         Jodahposted 20 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks, Rosina.

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   AliciaCposted 20 months ago

   John has shared an amazing story in his article, as Linda has said. I shuddered when I read that he performed surgery after reading a book. It sounds like he did some good things in his life, though. He was an unusual but very interesting person.
   
   Thanks for sharing the article, Ravi.

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      Jodahposted 20 months agoin reply to this

      Thank you for reading this Linda. Demara was quite a unique character. Despite his deceptions, it seems he really only tried to do good.

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   Lora Hollingsposted 20 months ago

   A wonderful article, John, on Ferdinand Demara and his abilities to impersonate so many others and mastering the skill set needed to really pull it off! The most amazing of these imitations to me was taking the identity of the Royal Canadian Naval surgeon and performing surgeries requiring advanced skills and much knowledge. A photographic memory and high intelligence would definitely be a prerequisite to being able to actually pull this off. I agree with you, John, that it seems that he was using his gifts and his intelligence to do good. I really enjoyed your article, John.

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      Jodahposted 20 months agoin reply to this

      Lora, I actually watched a You Tube video of his appearance on “You Bet Your Life” a quiz show hosted by Groucho Marx. He had a very likeable persona, and mentioned how he was once appointed Dean of a University without even have finished high school himself. Yes, he only ever seemed to do positive things with his unique skills.

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   ravirajan01posted 20 months ago

   That is interesting information, Mike. Frank has been almost immortalized in Hollywood as the biggest conman of all, and to think that everything about him was false, to begin with is too fantastic.

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   ChitrangadaSharanposted 20 months ago

   Hello John,
   Thank you for introducing me to Fred Demara! Interesting and informative write up, and I enjoyed reading about him! He possessed unique qualities indeed!
   Thank you Raviji, for highlighting John's work!

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      Jodahposted 20 months agoin reply to this

      Thank you for reading, Chitrangada. Yes, Fred Demara truly was an incredible human.

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   aesta1posted 20 months ago

   What an amazing story. How Demara pulled off all his personification is beyond me. In a way, it’s a story about becoming whatever you want to be. He took great risks but also studied and helped so many people. This is a case that’ll call for intriguing discussion in a morality course.

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      Jodahposted 20 months agoin reply to this

      Yes, you are right, Mary. It would be quite intriguing for this case to be discussed in regard to morality. Thank you for reading and for your insightful comment.

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   Brenda Arledgeposted 20 months ago

   John...
   I found the forum.
   
   This is definitely an Interesting snd intriguing article.
   
   Its hard to believe his patients all survived and he crammed textbooks right before doing surgery....having no real authority to perform them.
   
   It amazes me that he was never charged & he was returned to the United States....but I do understand that the government had to be a bit embarrassed.
   
   It really baffles me that he kept changing his identity time after time.
   
   It must have gave him some kind of comfort to pretend to be a person he wasn't.
   
   Great write up.

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    Jodahposted 20 months ago

    Thanks Brenda. Yes, I think all you say explains the situation well. He seemed to be always challenging himself to see what he was capable of pulling off.

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