Hope: Read the inspirational life behind Tom Parker

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For what it’s worth, the film has it right when Elvis gets suggestive with a plaster Nipper, the RCA dog, in concert. But it’s said to have happened at the Pan-Pacific show. He Only Took Credit for Elvis’s Success, Not Blame for His Demise If that grim scenario sounds familiar, the Colonel was also a huge fan of Nightmare Alley, the 1947 drama recently remade by Guillermo del Toro. “The fascination Colonel had with that picture was unbelievable,” Raphael remembered. “He sat there so engrossed that he never moved, though God knows how many times he’d seen it. He talked about it all the time, for years.” The Colonel Loved Elvis’s Racy Headlines—In Fact He Helped Stage Them Sean’s been there for me when other people can’t be there for me,” she says. “He’s been absolutely amazing. He doesn’t treat me like a widow – he treats me like a normal person and I’m grateful for that.” Kelsey Parker: With And Without You is a no holds barred account of living with grief, and it details the final years she spent with the love of her life, the late Tom Parker, who passed away at the age of 33 in March 2022. I’ve done it for Aurelia and Bodhi – how cool that both their parents are published authors! When they get older, they can read the books and get a sense of mine and Tom’s relationship. And I definitely think that’s what you draw from my book. Tom was my everything.”

Thank you so much to the brain tumour community for all of your support for Tom throughout his illness and now as we promote his book. It was Tom’s dream to have a no 1 best-selling book because he knew the power of bringing attention to brain tumours and the devastating impact decades of under-funding is having on those affected by the disease. Tom lived with hope and we will continue to push for better research and treatment so that those diagnosed can have more hope of a more positive outcome.“ In the depths of darkness, you can still find positivity, somewhere.” That’s the message Kelsey Parker wants readers to take away from her debut memoir. In March 2022, the much-loved pop star, husband and father and son died from an incurable brain tumour.

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This got me feeling really sad. Sad that he was done such a wrong. Why do such bad things happen to such fundamentally decent people. You could tie yourself in knots trying to find an answer to that one. Sad or not, it's well worth reading Tom's book - it humbles you - it's a leveller. Credit where credit is due, to Tom and to his family. 😭😭😭 In the scenes in which he promotes Hank Snow, Parker talks about staging a carny wedding at an upcoming stop. Parker routinely did this during his days with the carnivals. Remembered Alan Fortas, a member of Elvis’s “Memphis Mafia” entourage: “He performed a wedding ceremony on a Ferris wheel. They had the bride and groom in one car, and the bridesmaids in the next one.” He so identified with that lifestyle that he sought the company of concessionaires, midway operators, and sideshow performers long after his carnival days were over.

Kelsey attended the Tom Parker Football Charity Match with Ryan and Scott Thomas (Image: Getty Images) However, she is keen to stress one thing: “Tom is irreplaceable. There will never be another Tom Parker in my life.” As she navigates the trials and tribulations of life without her husband, naturally Kelsey has found herself feeling lonely at times – particularly in the evenings when the children have gone to bed. Seeking comfort and companionship, she began a relationship with builder Sean Boggans, who she met at a wedding last summer. I will preface this by saying I am biased as a fan of The Wanted, and of Tom as a person, but honestly believe that this book can be impactful universally.In 1963, Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley’s audacious manager who had gotten his start selling candy apples in carnivals, read in the paper that Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidential yacht, the U.S.S. Potomac, was going to be salvaged. Some called it his “Floating White House.” But Parker, who was born in Holland in 1909 as Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk and never became an American citizen, didn’t care about that. He saw the Potomac as just another snow job, as he called his art of the con. He would donate the rusting hulk to charity and put a P.R. feather in the cap of his only client: Elvis Presley.

Of her role in Harry Potter, where she played a Hufflepuff student, Kelsey laughs, “The Harry Potter film is one that definitely resonates with the kids. They’ll say to their mates, ‘My mum was in Harry Potter.’ So that’s pretty cool.”This book is an incredible achievement for Tom. To have written a book about his life whilst in the throws of battling cancer is genuinely mind-boggling to me. This book summarises Tom’s life before The Wanted, during it, his career and domestic life during the bands hiatus, and delves into his diagnosis and treatment with / for Stage 4 Glioblastoma. As Tom said: “This is not a book about dying: it's a book about living. It's a book about finding hope in whatever situation you're dealt, and living your best life no matter what.” Nevertheless, it’s clear Sean has helped Kelsey through some hard moments and feelings of isolation in times when her family and friends aren’t around her. There’s no doubt she’s been at the receiving end of some very unsolicited opinions about her new relationship – but she brushes them off as best she can.

Losing your husband at 32 is something no one should have to face. But Kelsey, who has two children, Aurelia, four, and two-year-old Bodhi, with The Wanted’s Tom, tries to put a positive spin on everything – even her husband’s death. Including, in one particularly moving chapter of her autobiography, the Elsewhere in this section of the film, Parker—who in real life had sold the network on the idea of a Christmas special so he could turn Elvis into a late-’60s Bing Crosby—appears as a bumbling rube in his insistence that Elvis sing “Here Comes Santa Claus.” It’s funny, but renders Parker ridiculous. Sure, he was out of touch with the times by then, and didn’t see the Phoenix-like potential of what the special could do for his “attraction,” as he called Elvis. But he was never inept, and he was fiercely loyal in his business dealings and determined to honor his contracts to the letter. The Colonel Goes to Nightmare Alley

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The sleeve reads, "In March 2022, much-loved pop star, father and son Tom Parker died from incurable brain cancer. This story is his legacy, in his own words. A proud working-class lad from Bolton, he rose to chart-topping fame with The Wanted and even took America by storm. A loving father to Aurelia and Bodhi and a proud husband to Kelsey, his life after pop superstardom was all about family, friends and finding new purpose. After his diagnosis in 2020, he become a prominent campaigner for brain cancer research, appearing in the House of Commons as well as holding a massively successful concert in aid of Stand Up to Cancer in the Royal Albert Hall. Throughout it all, Tom had hope. This inspirational memoir shows how far hope and daring to dream can carry you, no matter what cards you're dealt." I don’t want to be that pushy parent, but even when Tom was alive, he would say, ‘Kels, she can sing in tune, not many kids that age can sing in tune,’” she says. “She loves to perform. She’s just naturally gifted and so is Bodhi.” They give you 12 to 18 months of survival. But that's the general statistics. Everyone we've ­spoken to has been way, way beyond that."