Our Fake Staff
- Jonathan P. McAllister (Editor-In-Chief/Contributing Writer): After serving abroad in the military for years, John worked as a martial arts trainer for decades until launching a career in fake journalism with good friend Roddy Rae Biffel.
- Maxwell Keller (Contributing Writer): Max is a roving fake reporter, traveling the country with his pet Henry. He’s an avid dirt-bike competitor and a powered hang-glider enthusiast.
- Charles Pattersen (Contributing Writer): An accomplished stage performer off Broadway early in his theatrical career, Charlie discovered his true calling for fake news late in life after his daughters grew up and left the home.
- John Palin (Marketing/Contributing Writer): John has extensive experience in politics as a personal assistant to a US Senator, eventually aligning himself with increasingly revolutionary political actors. He now follows a more peaceful path within the world of fake reporting.
- Carrie J. Brown (Business Management/Contributing Writer): Spearheaded the organization of a worker’s union within the local cannery of her home town as a young woman. Brings that same passion for symbolic equality to fake news on a daily basis.
- Grouchy Mars (Intern): Probably won’t last the summer.
Our Fake History
The Daily Bystander is comprised of a growing staff of literary artisans, dedicated to the singular vision of our late founder Roddy Rae Biffel, when he astutely declared: “Whatever”.
It is in that same spirit that we create the pretend news of the day, dumbly.
Roddy Rae was born in Jackson, Tennessee and started his career as a disc jockey at age 17 at WPLI in Jackson, earning $25 a week.
After moving to WTJS, he was hired away for double the salary by Jackson’s only other station, WDXI. He next hosted mornings at WHBQ in Memphis while a college student at Memphis State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1957. While there, Roddy Rae became a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
During this time, Roddy Rae decided to branch out and form his own production company, Biffel Enterprises, so he could develop and produce his own game shows. His first venture was Headline Chasers, a co-production with Merv Griffin that premiered in 1985.
In June 1996, Roddy Rae became host of Lifetime’s highest-rated quiz show, Debt, which had debt-ridden contestants compete to try to eliminate their debts. Despite its popularity on cable, Debt was canceled in 1998, for the reason more males were watching the show than females (the network’s target audience).
In October 2016, Roddy Rae appeared on the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, as a minister.
Roddy Rae married Madelyn Leech in 1954 and they had four children. They divorced in 1972. He married his second wife, Sandy (née Ferra), on August 2, 1975.
He had a few dogs named after the various game shows he hosted.
Roddy Rae was a born-again Christian and was once a guest on the TBN flagship program Praise the Lord. Roddy Rae’s wife, Sandy, dated Elvis Presley, and both were friends of his. They appeared on Sirius’ Elvis Radio and shared stories about Presley.
In 1981, the Roddy Rae movement’s efforts refocused on activities in the United States and Biffel relocated to a facility known as Biffelpuram in Wasco County, Oregon. Almost immediately the movement ran into conflict with county residents and the state government, and a succession of legal battles concerning the site’s construction and continued development curtailed its success. In 1985, in the wake of a series of serious crimes by his followers, including a mass food poisoning attack with salmonella bacteria and an aborted assassination plot to murder U.S. Attorney Charles H. Turner, Roddy Rae alleged that his personal secretary Ma Anand Sheela and her close supporters had been responsible. He was later deported from the United States in accordance with an Alford plea bargain.
After his deportation, 21 countries denied him entry. He ultimately returned to Tennessee and revived the Biffel ashram, where he died in 1990. Biffel’s ashram, now known as OSHO International Meditation Resort and all associated intellectual property, is managed by the registered Osho International Foundation (formerly Roddy Rae International Foundation). Roddie Rae’s teachings have had an impact on Western New Age thought and their popularity reportedly increased between the time of his death and 2005.