He gave a valedictory interview to one of his favorite reporters,

Vernon Scott, of the Los Angeles Herald Express in September. He

told Scott, Tve squandered seven million dollars. I m going to have

to s~ll the Zaca. I need t-h~ naoney, old bean. But don t grieve for me

when i go. The way, o~a transgressor is not as hard as they claim.

suppose I ll be criticized, but it s a question of living life the way you

see fit, and I ve been careless of other people s opinions. I never

thought the public would be interested in my so-called antics.

,"Years ago it was a matter of choosing which road to travel. After

all, there is only one road to hell, and there weren t any signposts

along the way. I ve taken the human disasters in the same stride as

the good times. And I hope I manage to face it all with a brave front.

You shouldn t distress your friends or have them feel the disasters.

Tve lived hard, spent hard and behaved as I damn well chose.

You d think I d be ready for the wheelchair after the last twenty

years of hell raising, but I never felt better."

A g~llant statement of his philosophy, followed by a gallant lie to

conclude it.