Conrad Black doesn't go on trial until March 14, but the big media machine is already gearing up. More from the Toronto Star's Antonia Zerbisias.
His imminent trial for fraud and racketeering, set for Chicago March 14, is occasion for, to paraphrase Barbara Amiel Black who was referring to her wardrobe at the time, journalistic extravagance that knows no bounds.
Think O.J. Simpson-sized spectacle for the Vanity Fair set but with no murder and better shoes.
Amazingly, Black has not been keeping his counsel, popping up on TV and in interviews, such as last night in a bizarre exchange with i-channel's Meghan Harris.
Yesterday's edition of The Globe and Mail plopped on my front porch boasting a front-page lobster-with-his-Lordship feature fluffier than the mousseline on the menu.
"He strides over to the table," wrote business gossip columnist Patricia Best. "Heads turn in the room. He is accustomed to this. At the events he attends in Toronto, there is an invisible space around him. Not many people in the chattering class of Toronto actually know an Accused who faces the possibility of a prison sentence. People stop conversation to observe him and then to whisper to each other. Lord Black never gives the impression of noticing this."
When the latest issue of Maclean's finally arrived through yesterday's storm, it could have scared little children with its brooding, heart-of-Blackness cover – Botox! Stat! – which heralded a 26 page "insider's guide to the white-collar trial of the century."
It leaves no precious stone in Amiel Black's jewel box unturned.
You can be sure that Black's fans, some of who are clicking on to SupportLordBlack.com, will be snatching this one off the stands.