He’s About Ready To Tune Out And Turn Off
Psychedelic ‘60s guru Timothy Leary is ready to take the ultimate trip.
“When I found out I was terminally ill, and I know this can be misinterpreted, I was thrilled,” Leary, 74, who was diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer in January, told the Los Angeles Times.
“I was now entered into the real challenge of how to live an empowered life, a life of dignity.”
The former Harvard psychologist spends most of his time these days organizing archives from a garage full of hundreds of boxes containing his writings and other materials.
He said he would pick his own time and way of death, and might even take a dose of LSD at the end.
“How you die is the most important thing you ever do,” Leary said. “It’s the exit, the final scene of the glorious epic of your life.”
Loose talk
Supermodel Linda Evangelista, on her fear of flying (on the “Tonight Show” with Jay Leno): “If I get really nervous, if there’s turbulence or something, I’ll just invite myself into the cockpit. One pilot is usually passed out and asleep, and the other is doing a crossword puzzle.”
Then there are those who were naturally nutty
Buddy Hackett turns 71 today.
He’s not letting his career go up in smoke
Former counterculture comedian Cheech Marin is keeping busy as an actor, most recently playing the bartender in “Desperado.” Says Marin: “Part of my new process is to get a fan base that goes from womb-to-tomb. There are little kids that listen to ‘Cheech the Bus Driver,’ and like, grandfathers that still listen to old Cheech and Chong albums.”
The ceremony did have a familiar ring to it
Pia Zadora kept guests waiting for an hour at her townhouse wedding last weekend while she searched for the perfect shoes, then had to coax her two young kids from her first marriage to come downstairs. When a family friend observed that “your mother doesn’t get married every day,” daughter Kady replied: “Yes, she does.”
It’s one way to say goodbye to your salad days
Billy Baldwin, preparing for his September wedding to Chynna Phillips, ended an early bachelor party by diving into a cake being balanced by a woman who was wheeled in on a serving cart wearing only mangoes, bananas and other fruit.
Either way, sounds like some kind of trouble
A Park City, Mont., woman claims country star Tanya Tucker hit her and pulled her hair at a Wyoming supper club after she asked one of the singer’s friends to dance. Tucker contends the fan poured a drink on her after she refused to sign an autograph.
We suppose she’ll be doing her greatest hits
And speaking of terrible T’s, felonious figure skater Tonya Harding will make her singing debut Sunday in Portland with her band, The Golden Blades, at a benefit concert for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color photos
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Rick Bonino