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I’m not certain I believe the following, but I WAS THERE and
bought into it at the time. The scene is Acapulco. It is
1980 give or take. Warner Brothers was having an
international company convention. I had been invited by the
Warner’s brass to be a panelist to speak about American
radio…how it worked, etc.
There must have been 2000 people in attendance including
some stars....I remember being introduced to Stevie Nicks
(she had a very warm handshake that no one could forget).
There was a very large under-the-stars banquet with great
food and a Hollywood type of fireworks display spelling
“Warner Brothers”.
Pat, my wife, and I were assigned to a table with George
Harrison (yep, that George of the Beatles) and his wife to
be, Olivia. This was a table with ten movie and music
people….I was the only radio person. They were all
interested in radio…you know, how many adds per week, did we
play music from the movies, etc.
Of course, George knew of our consulting company, and wanted
to know more about it. (Note: My partner Lee Abrams would
become friends with George for years down the line).That
night George kept addressing me as “Ken”. I said, “George,
it is K E N T…with a T at the end”. He looked at me and
said, “Well, you will always be Ken to me”!!!!! And I was.
During the dinner George mentioned that Howard Hughes had
spent a few years at our resident hotel, the Princess. I
told George what I knew about Mr. Hughes, and George was
amazed. He wanted to know more. So the next day George went
to a hotel official and got permission to visit the former
Howard Hughes suite. George was a Beatle and they were not
going to refuse him!!!!
George asked me to come along. We were escorted by a couple
of employees to the suite. They told us about Mr. Hughes,
his long fingernails, his fear of germs, his required
privacy, his food preparation, etc. I had heard these
stories during cocktail conversations over the years.
We spent about ten minutes in the suite. Mr. Hughes bedroom
was amazingly small as I recall. We left, and both George
and I handed a healthy tip to the hotel employees. I know
what I saw and heard…but I had no hard facts at hand.
Did Mr. Hughes actually stay in that hotel? Was this just a
scam from hotel employees for some American tips? In
hindsight it doesn’t feel right. The more time goes on I
wonder…yes or no?
Reader, if you have any knowledge of the above let me know
and I will print it.
All in all, it was fun, and certainly deserved a column. And
thanks to the late George from his convention friend “Ken”.
e-mail Kent
kent@kentburkhart.com
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