Real Estate Has Anybody Seen Tom Selleck? ByJonathan White.

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With Sightings All Over Washington County ...

Has Anyb d0 y Seen Tom Selleck?

BY JONATHAN WHITE

FRONT-PAGE article in the Bangor Daily News has got to be true, right? If the Associated Press picks. up the story, it's got to be true, right? And if his publicist denies it, you know it's true, right?

Well, maybe not.

Tom Selleck sightings are raging through Washington County. Everyone knows someone who's spotted him. Around Jonesboro and Englishman Bay, people swear Tom Selleck is driving around in his new Ford Bronco. Legend says he's bought shore front property off Look's Point Road, on Mount Misery overlooking Mason Bay. From Kittery to Calais, female hearts fluctuate near the Richter dysfunction level.

In Peasely Corner, Whitneyville, and Machias, hearsay has scattered about the new resident. After all, a nice guy like Selleck, leading-man-next door, Clark Gable of the 1980s, would want to find a spot to escape rabid fans, well-wishers, and weirdos. What better place than half-a-world away from Hawaii?

For my first assignment at Portland Monthly, my editor handed me the AP clip and said, "Interview Tom Selleck."

Visions of cruising north along Route 1 in my sporty Honda CRX to meet Tom raced through my mind. I could picture myself and my new buddy sipping longnecks on the ledges, while I asked penetrating stuff against the sound of surf.

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This wasn't going to be one of those, "Why did you come to Maine?" stories. I was going to get the answers to some burning questions: Is Higgins really Robin Masters? How well does Jane Seymour kiss? Can I have an autographed photo for my mother? When are you going to do another w;estern? (See, I am a Tom Selleck fan. "Magnum" was my favorite show - I hated how CBS bumped it off and on the Wednesday night schedule this past season. And I loved those TV westerns Tom filmed. You tell me how many actors can playa Louis L'Amour character convincingly now the Duke's passed on.)

With high heart, I reached Tom's publicist, Esme Chandlee, in Los Angeles, explaining that Portland Monthly would like to interview her client. "No, absolutely not," Esme replied, quite graciously. "He's on vacation. Tom's just wrapped up "Magnum" and Three Men and a Baby, and he's not giving any interviews to anyone until he finishes his next picture, which he starts in July."

Aha, thinks I, Tom's hiding out in Jonesboro. "Well, we'd like to do an interview with him at some point, at his convenience. He's bought some land here in Maine d an " "No, he didn't." "Well, AP reported he had." "He hasn't bought anything in Maine. The AP reported that? That's odd; they usually check with us." "He didn't buy anything here?" "Absolutely not. That rumor's been surfacing all over the country ever since "Magnum" started eight years ago. We usually find that rumor starts with a real estate company. Tom has a condo in LA and a house in Oahu and that's it." I know what you're thinking.

After saying goodbye, Iwondered, too. A little voice kept nagging me: 'Something fishy here.' Maybe

Esme was protecting her client's privacy. Maybe Tom was sneaking aro,und the nation secretly purchasing remote tracts. Maybe Tom hadn't bought property near

Jonesboro. Maybe I'd better find out. Now, when I write my book about being a professional journalist, there's going to be a chapter on verifying stories. Fact checking. I went to the source, the AP clip describing Selleck's "elusive visit." AP said they picked up the story from the front page of The Bangor

Daily News. I dialed that newspaper's

Machias bureau and asked to speak with the reporter who broke the story. Clayton Beal came on the line. "Did you actually see Tom Selleck or view proof he bought prop. erty near Jonesboro?" "Well, no," Beal replied, falling back on an old J -school cliche: "A reporter's only as good as his sources. But he certainly was here. I got the information from several different sources, like the first selectman - Selleck stopped at his garage. Now, Selleck doesn't live here; he doesn't own a house, so he doesn't have an address. He just bought some land and came through in his Bronco to see the property. He just wants to be left alone. He's a big star, you know." "Do you think it could have been a look -alike?" "Those people know who they saw; all we can go on is that people believe they saw Tom Selleck." "Did you check with the Registry of Deeds?" "It takes time to get those things through the system up here," Beal explained. "But we hope to come up with s'omething concrete on it." Although I didn't expect an answer over the telephone, my little voice told me to call the

Washington County Registry of

Deeds. I asked Sharon Strout, the court secretary, whether Tom Selleek owned property near Jonesboro. "The story is that he has," she said. "But we haven't received any deeds in his name in the registry, and he hasn't bought any land to the best of our knowledge."

Maybe I could talk to someone who'd seen Tom. My next step was calling Woodward's Store, where Selleck allegedly stopped to chat with 17-year-old Ted Woodward.

I spoke to an employee who requested anonymity (a lot of people around Jonesboro are real touchy about being quoted on this one). Did Tom Selleck stop there? "I don't know; I wasn't working that day. A gentleman came in who'd bought some land. You hear so many rumors ... 'I saw him, I shook hands with him.' I don't know whether it was really him or a double. "Mail for Tom Selleck has been coming to the Post Office and to the store. People think he's living here. "

Next, I got owner Bill Woodward. Had he seen Tom Selleck? "I couldn't say," Woodward answered. "I don't know him. It was three or four Sunday mornings ago. He told my son he was moving into the area. We've been getting all kinds of junk mail. Newspapers and radio stations keep calling, too." "Could I talk with your son?" "Look, we've got customers in the store and he's busy." 'Just for a minute." "Hey, Ted, do you want to talk to this guy?"

A muffled "No, Dad," ended that conversation.

My next call was to Schoppee's Garage, where Tom supposedly drove his overheating Bronco, where I spoke to Selectman Keith Schoppee. "Did Tom Selleck stop there?" "Yes, quite a while ago, a month." "Are you sure it was Tom Selleck?" "Far as I know. I didn't talk to him. Look, I don't want to have anything to do with this," Schoppee said as he hung up.

I dialed the Jonesboro Post Office. "We're getting all kinds of