While we've talked about Scott Richter, the self-titled "Spam King," many times before (his losing battle with Eliot Spitzer; the court tussle with SpamCop that was ultimately settled; his "Spam King" clothing line that got him in trouble with Hormel), and now the Denver Post has published a substantial excerpt from Brian McWilliam's investigative book, "Spam Kings: The Real Story behind the High-Rolling Hucksters Pushing Porn, Pills, and %*@)# Enlargements."

His dad was a CPA and tax attorney - but he moved out when Scott was 11, so the King had little fatherly influence from his law-abiding daddy. Instead of going the educated route, Richter started his own business after high school, a vending machine enterprise called RAM Amusement Investments Inc. His mother was corporate secretary. Next he started his own restaurant chain, Great Scott's Eatery, and a sports bar, in the Denver area.

When he started putting on too many pounds thanks to his junk food kingdom, in 2000 he had the bright idea to lose weight and begin peddling ephedra-based weight loss pills via email. And thus the King was born. Before long he was coming under fire for using “dirty” email lists, and by the end of 2003 Eliot Spitzer was already accusing him of being the third-biggest spammer in the world.

Now that the CAN-SPAM act has been passed, Richter is claiming to be the “Anti-Spam” King, and trumpets his use of “permission-based” email marketing with his new company, OptInRealBig.

McWilliams’ article includes lots of details like a timeline of Richter’s life and some real-time response from Richter on the legitimacy of his business today. He says the book is 90% accurate - an excellent criticism of a work that certainly doesn’t seek to aggrandize spammers like Richter. As he’d like to make some money off his story for his own bank account, Richter is looking for a ghost writer. Hmmm…. I might be able to find time, for a price, Scott. You’ll have to take me off all your “opt-in” lists, though. Whaddya think?