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From: paul krassner
Sent: 2/12/2017 12:25:16 AM
To: DANNY GOLDBERG ; Sam/Walli Leff Michael Simmons
Subject: I don't know if they'll publish this:
Importance: High
From: paul krassner <I>
Subject: Re:"Comedian made an art...," Obituariwa, Feb. 10
Date: February 11, 2017 at 12:56:37 PM PST
To: letterslatimes.com
The obituary of unique comedian Irwin Corey stated, "Over a career that spanned more than 70 years, Corey
performed in vaudeville, radio, television, films, Broadway, nightclubs and Las Vegas showrooms."
In 1983, I was fortunate to be booked as the opening act for Corey in a four-day run at the Julia
Morgan Theater in Berkeley. He revealed his dark side in a room backstage, where we smoked
a joint, and he told me how he used to read Nazi hate literature to get him in the mood to
perform. And there was a certain sense of continuity on his deathbed. The night before he died, he said to a
close friend, James Drougas, "Trump will be assassinated soon."
"Professor" Corey also had a humanitarian streak. In 1996, in my magazine, The Realist, I published a photo of
him, from a video by his son Richard, presenting Fidel Castro a bag of California-grown pistachio nuts (Castro
said, "California, hmmmm, good climate there for nuts"), a book on the Rosenberg controversy, and a credit-
card-size calculator (Castro said, "I'll have to use my little pinky to push the buttons"). Dave Channon reported
thatCorey was on a diplomatic mission to lift the embargo on health supplies to Cuba, and he visited a hospital
that was providing sophisticated treatment for the survivors of Chernobyl. Cuban health care provided for more
radiation victims than than did the U. .5."
Paul Krassner
Desert Hot Springs
HOUSE OVERSIGHT 033225