Lordy's life, in which truth is stranger than as strange as fiction

Back on April Fool's day, Terri Poulton, the managing editor at Media in Canada wrote a spoof about a reality TV series that was being planned, based on Conrad Black's life in prison. (He was thinly disguised as "Lord Fish").

At first appalled only by ill-tailored jumpsuits, punitive puce décor, 10-thread-count bedding and substandard foie gras, he soon recognizes something even worse: the abysmal dearth of decent conversation.

It turns out that real life trumps spoofing, as the Globe and Mail publishes a story and picture based on reporting at the London Daily Mail, reporting that the inmates in the Florida prison have dubbed Black "Lordy".

"Conrad remains very snobbish, despite having the same daily routine as all the other prisoners," the source told the Daily Mail. "He said he was shocked by how uneducated most of his fellow inmates were."

The spoof imagined Black teaching elocution to inmates. In real life, he is teaching them history.[Thanks to Terri Poulton]