Trust in Papa Ray Charles' Money

Financial management and family members are battling for money left in trusts by singer Ray Charles before his death in 2004.

Several of Charles' 12 children have accused executive Joe Adams of not only hindering the "Georgia on My Mind" star's estate bestowal, but damaging their father's reputation, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

"The biggest issue with me is disrespect for the family and kids," said the Rev. Robert Robinson, who is one of Charles' sons. "If you respect a man and his work, then you respect his kids. His blood is flowing through our veins."

The family thinks that Adams took advantage of Charles' name when he released two Charles albums after the singer died. They also say that he reallocated some of the money that Charles left in trusts, profitting from the late singer.

Charles probably had no clue that he'd be leaving this mess around for others to sort through.

[United Press International]

For Courtney Love or the Money

Identity theft is nothing to joke about. Millions of Americans are aff...oh, it's Courtney Love making the allegation? It must be the result of some disorder and disarray in Love's head.

Courtney Love is blogging back at skeptics who say her latest fraud allegations are figments of a "bipolar" disorder. The rocker raged when she read Monday that cops are supposedly laughing off the complaint she filed with the LAPD last Wednesday, alleging that she's the victim of an egregious identity theft.

Firing back on MySpace, she vented: "God, people are batsh—. And im not the one who is. and i hear now i am 'Bi Polar' uhhhh...thats more nuts than I will ever be.

"I may be Eccentric, i certainly speak my mind and am slow to put out a record i need to mean the world to ME, and im sure i am quite Nuerotic but 'Bi Polar'. Thats just slander."

We're willing to hear her out. We think everyone deserves that courtesy when it comes to serious allegations like these. Courtney, the floor is yours. Do us proud:

Among the conspirators, the former Hole singer alleges in another e-mail, are two bankers, "queenie guys [who] got on the phone and were hooting and hollering and I was playing along."

Oh. Maybe Courtney should take a look at some of our reading materials...

[NY Daily News]

Hunter S. Thompson's Feet and Clothing in Las Vegas

Has Hunter S. Thompson joined the shoe-selling ranks of Christina Aguilera?...And is that okay?

Converse sneakers are joining the rich tradition of using dead celebrities in advertisements, with Hunter S. Thompson's image appearing in their latest marketing efforts.
To be fair, this is not random selection. The Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars were an integral part of Thompson's iconic look:

"Since he bought his first pair in the early 1960s in San Francisco he has worn them every day of his life," the author's widow Anita Thompson tells Radar. "There are still over 70 pairs of them at the house."

But it's not that simple. Some Bloggers, like Gawker, have had it up to as high as they can raise their hand with it, and are saying so in collected, measured tones:

Whenever the dead stop messing around in the afterlife and come back to earth in zombie form, they won't be happy about this. Zombie Gonzo (Thompson) will be dining on the bursting brains of the young cool creative minds that dreamed up his ad appearances. And we should all want a bite.

It's Thompson's estate who is getting a bite now. One of many enjoying the spoils of money pie.

By the way - yes, I would have taken any excuse to run that Christina photo....Let's just hope Converse doesn't follow Skechers photo marketing campaign...I can't imagine "possibly-naughtier-than-you-think school girl" being a good look for him.

[Radar]

Dale Earnhardt's Legacy Brings Not So Hard-Earned Money

When it comes to selecting a roster of celebrities to take for the upcoming year, DP participants will sometimes choose people who are in industries or who live lifestyles that are more prone to death. Take recently deceased Evel Knievel for instance. Those who chose Evel in 2007 benefitted from taking the daredevil.

On the other hand, these coyld be "red herrings," people who have seemingly dangerous professions yet don't pose more of a risk of dying doing what they do best. When Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin died last year, it was very much a fluke that the stingray got him in the heart instantly killing him.

It's hard to say where racecar driving fits into the equation. A severe crash at those speeds and a driver could very well find himself in a morgue rather than a hospital. That was of course the case for fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Sr. back in 2001. Now, some are looking to So collect on the fallen driver's fame.

Motorsports Authentics (which is owned by International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports Inc.) is selling die-cast collectible versions of this fantasy car for $74.99. It's another effort to make money off Earnhardt, who died after wrecking in the 2001 Daytona 500.

No one could dispute Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig when he said at the news conference, "We certainly make some money off of Dale, let's put it that way."

This isn't something unique to racecar driving. Whenever a prominent entertainer passes, the name resonates with people who remain fans of the industry. At times, fans long to have him or her back. Most often, though, they want to honor and remember the deceased celebrity with a souvenir.

Some wonder if that is necessarily a real tribute or merely a way to capitalize on the recognizable name.

The culture of the dead celebrity has a long history (Elvis, anyone?) and isn't going away. And it's no secret that newspapers and magazines run "anniversary" stories, often about deceased subjects, because we think people will read them and, you know, buy our product.

But we can at least do him the courtesy of remembering him the way he was, not the way that will sell the most $74.99 souvenirs.

We tend to think that some souvenirs are more appropriate than others. We know that we are often comforted by our Kurt Cobain bobblehead doll that "moshes" to this day.

[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

We Talkin' Bout Malpractice

Why do bad things happen to good people?

While we can't answer phiosophical questions about life and death, we try to reveal the practical reasons for people's deaths. Or at the very least what gets listed by the coroner as the cause of death. And then there's medical malpractice which goes and throws off the entire system.

We rely on doctors to care for celebrities when they're sick. But sometimes even doctors can make mistakes. As was the case for John Ritter says his family.

Early next month, in response to a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Amy Yasbeck and Ritter's four children, a Los Angeles County jury will be asked to decide: Did Ritter have to die?

Lawyers for the plaintiffs fault the care Ritter, 54, received from two doctors -- one who interpreted the results of a body scan he had in 2001, the other who treated him the night he died. Defense attorneys say their clients did nothing wrong and that Ritter would have died no matter what doctors did.

We don't envy the position these doctors are in now, having to publicly justify why the medicine and procedures they prescribed were the correct courses of action at the time. It'll surely be an emotional trial for Yasbeck and her kids. What is conclusive, according to all sides, is that Ritter is dead.

Know who's not dead? Former football player Ron Springs. Yet his family is in a similar position at the complicated juncture between medicine and law.

The unexpected turn in Springs' promising and much-publicized recovery led his wife to file a medical malpractice suit Tuesday against two doctors who Adriane Springs says caused brain damage to her husband during a routine surgery to remove a cyst.

"My husband was doing so well after the kidney transplant," Adriane Springs said. "This is just a very tragic outcome."

Even though she's filed the lawsuit, Ms. Springs is still hoping that her husband will someday wake up again.

Adriane Springs is not giving up hope, saying that she rebuffed a neurosurgeon who broached the idea of taking her husband off his medication.

Proving medical malpractice, from what we've read, is a difficult process. It also costs an exhorbitant amount of money to pursue.

We think we can resolve both of these cases using simple logic. At the root of the word "malpractice" is "practice." Now, at the time of Ritter's collapse, he was practicing his part at rehearsal for the television program "8 Simples Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter." Springs, on the other hand, was not at football practice at the time he went into his coma.

Therefore, in our expert opinions, Ritter's suit should stand up while Springs' should be denied. Next case.

[Los Angeles Times]
[ABC News]

An Artist's Death Can Cause a Price Resurrection

Deceased artists' work is worth more than that of living artists. Why is this? Probably because there's no threat of more - or possibly better - art being produced by that man or woman. Whatever exists on the date of his or her death is the extent of the collection forever.

If we were an artist trying to sell our artwork, we'd surely pretend to be dead. Our paintings would sell far better than if people knew we were alive to paint more. In fact, that was the plot to the 1965 movie The Art of Love, directed by Norman Jewison and starring Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner - all three of whom are listed on DP 2008 rosters - among others.

Although this idea was played out in film, it's reflective of a real phenomenon that exists in American fine culture even today.

In the last years of his life, Béla Bartók was so obscure that he and his family actually had trouble making ends meet. It wasn't until after he died of leukemia in 1945 that he finally came to be widely regarded as a great composer -- too late for the resulting royalties on his music to ease his earthly lot.

We - along with the WSJ - wonder: What is it about the demise of an artist that so often triggers a reconsideration of his significance?

The so-called "Death Effect" can possibly be explained by obituaries publicizing the person's life, sparking interest in readers. Or perhaps it's a way to connect with the deceased, to show respect or even love, despite having taken them for granted during their lives. You may not have a second chance to taste Aunt Gertie's holiday cannolis, but you can always sample a Shostakovich symphony in order to show a post-mortem appreciation for the man's often overlooked work.

[Wall Street Journal]

When You Wish Upon Astor

"When you wish upon Astor
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you"

Unless, that is, your heart desires the 50,000 dollars you were promised. Then it really does matter who you are. Because if you were a personal employee of the deceased Astor, then Anthony Marshall, Brooke Astor's son who was indicted in November on charges of fraud and grand larceny for allegedly stealing millions from his mother's estate, is doing everything he can to make sure your wish will not come to you:

Employees say Mrs. Astor, widow to the wealthy Vincent Astor, was a woman of her word who looked after her staff of about two dozen people. In a series of wills, she set aside cash for about a dozen employees she listed by name, a sum that reached $230,000 by 2001.

Well, can you blame Marshall? $230,000 is a lot of green. More green than was ever cut by Astor's gardeners... Oh wait, I forgot. Astor's will left a $132 million estate! Man, Marshall sure is a douche, and his own son agrees:

"Her secretaries, gardeners, drivers and maids are the unsung heroes in her life," says her grandson, Philip Marshall, Anthony Marshall's son. "She would be mortified to know that they were left out in the cold."

Unsung, eh? I can't blame her employees. After seeing how false Jiminy Cricket's lyrics turned out to be, I'd quit the choir too.

[Wall Street Journal]

Bitch is More Trouble Than She's Worth

Hotel operator Leona Helmsley died earlier this year, leaving a portion of her large estate to her dog. Her chauffeur, Nicholas Celea, received $100,000 for his time with Helmsley.

When Helmsley died last August and left $12 million to her tiny Maltese, Trouble, the last will and testament only reinforced the urban legend that she didn't care much for humans. It came as little surprise that there would be hostility towards the dog. But death and kidnapping threats seem a little extreme.

"I think the reaction was really quite bizarre," Helmsley's longtime friend John Codey told Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith. Codey is in charge of the pampered pooch and her trust fund. He said he was alarmed by the number of threats and estimates that Trouble received about 20 or 30.

"'I'm gonna kill the dog,'" he said people threatened. "'I'm gonna kidnap the dog. I need the $12 million.'"

We can't help but wonder if Codey had supervised Helmsley the way he does now that pooch if she could have avoided that whole tax evasion problem way back when. "Pay your taxes like a good girl. Atta girl. You're the best employer in the whole, wide world."

[CBS News]

Mostly Dead or All Dead? Sadly, Miracle Max Was Unavailable for Comment

Whether you're Jewish or not, being an Agunah really sucks. Peggy Fossett is kind of sick of it, and is trying to take action:

The wife of millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, who disappeared while flying his plane in September in rugged Western terrain, asked a court Monday to declare him legally dead. The request was a step toward resolving the legal status of Fossett's estate, which according to court papers is "vast, surpassing eight figures in liquid assets, various entities and real estate," LoVallo said.

Fossett, 63, disappeared Sept. 3 after taking off in a single-engine plane from an airstrip near Yerington, Nev., heading toward Bishop, Calif. Fossett was on a pleasure flight and not looking for a dry lake to use as a surface on which to set the world land speed record, as was initially reported, according to the petition filed on behalf of Peggy V. Fossett. He did not have a parachute, nor did he take a watch that had a transponder and could have sent out a distress signal, the petition said. There was a transponder aboard but no signal was received. With winter closing in, a rescue effort that involved dozens of planes and helicopters was officially suspended after more than a month of searching. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded in a preliminary report that the plane was destroyed in a fatal accident.

If she still has trouble getting the pronouncement, I recommend calling Meinhardt Raabe.

[Houston Chronicle]

I Wonder If These Guys Do The Scrooge McDuck In Their Death Pool

If they are not taking the Scrooge McDuck plunge, they should have watched more Disney afternoon. They obviously don't know the sheer, ecstatic joy of swimming through coins. Trust me- they have enough money to do it.

Alan Buerger is profiled in the Wall Street Journal as a pioneer in "Life Settlement" policies. What is that, you ask? Buerger leads a pack of people who buy life insurance policies off the living.

How about an example: Let's call the guy Stephen. Stephen needs some spare cash, so he sells his mother's $2 million life insurance policy to Buerger, who continues to pay the yearly premium, for 205,000 up front. Now, let's realize that this isn't a hypothetical -

Stephen Ellis needed cash, quickly, when he went over budget on a new house he was building. So the 48-year-old mortgage banker from Annapolis, Md., started shopping two policies, with a combined death benefit of $2 million, that he had taken out on his 75-year-old mother. Mr. Ellis had been paying $35,000 a year for the policies, he says, but the insurer would have paid him virtually nothing to cash them out... A small firm offered $205,000. He accepted. "I didn't really look at it as morbid," says Mr. Ellis, who supports his mother financially. "I thought, 'Wow what an incredible way to put a value on this.'" His mother has been in poor health but approved of the sale to benefit him now rather than later, he says. She was unavailable for comment.

I think i would hate to be a fly, but if I had to be one, I would have wanted to be the fly on their wall to overhear that conversation. "Look, mom... I'm going to sell your life insurance to someone who is financially invested in your imminent death... but before you complain, check out these beautiful granite countertops. In a house like this, you could die happy. Not you! One. One could die happy. I totally care whether you live..."

[Wall Street Journal]

The Astor Theatre Show Must Go On

Did you hear what happened to Anthony this week? It turns out that Anthony was in cohoots the whole time with his mother's lawyer as part of a plot to swindle money out of her.

Brooke Astor’s son and one of her former lawyers have been indicted on criminal charges stemming from the stewardship of her financial affairs and the handling of her will, according to people who have been briefed on the situation. Her son, Anthony D. Marshall, 83, and the lawyer, Francis X. Morrissey Jr., have been told to surrender to authorities on Tuesday morning, according to those briefed.

Prosecutors had been exploring, among other issues, whether Mrs. Astor was subject to undue influence related to millions of dollars in money and property transfers in the last several years that benefited Mr. Marshall, who had his mother’s power of attorney. The prosecutors have also been examining whether those transactions were in the best interest of Mrs. Astor or if they were larcenous.

Will Anthony cop a plea at the last minute? If not, how many years in prison will he be sentenced to? Or will Mr. Morissey come clean? These questions and more will be answered tomorrow, at the courthouse.

[New York Times]

Heavyweight Catfight to Take Place in Italy, with a $44 Million Purse

Women be shoppin! You know what else women be? Gossips. But remember, kids, be careful who you talk about, otherwise you can end up on the wrong side of a big-ass lawsuit:

Luciano Pavarotti's widow has sued two friends of the late tenor for $44 million, claiming their comments about her marriage were defamatory, her lawyer said Monday. Nicoletta Mantovani filed the lawsuit last month after warning that speculation about the state of her marriage to Pavarotti would not be tolerated, her lawyer said.

Pavarotti died September 6 of pancreatic cancer at age 71. Soon after, friends close to the tenor told Italian media that he had been unhappy in the marriage, and that Mantovani was fighting his grown daughters from an earlier marriage over his estate. "Since the comments did not cease -- and were, in fact, reiterated -- Mantovani had no choice but to file the lawsuit," lawyer Anna Maria Bernini said, confirming weekend reports in the small daily L'Informazione, based in Pavarotti's hometown of Modena. "She is doing it to protect her sense of respectability -- privately for the sake of her daughter and the memory of the maestro, publicly for her image and any future professional activity," Bernini said.

Other story highlights: if she wins, Mantovani plans to "donate" everything to "charity" (quotes very much mine). Also, from the Italian names are fun to say department, the two women sued: Franca Corfini Strata, wife of the singer's dietician, and Lidia La Marca, wife of conductor Leone Magiera.

[CNN]

James Brown Does Not "Feel Good!"

... And not just because he is dead. While some celebrities' estates thrive, and some dead authors continue to sell their printed pages like warm desserts, Brown's bank accounts seem to need the touch of The Hardest Working Man in Money Business.

Much of the money that was supposed to be going to James Brown Enterprise Inc. instead ended up in a company established by a former trustee accused of misappropriating $7 million from the singer.

It seems Brown had a lot more success "Living in America" than dying in it.

I wonder if he is the Godfather of Souls now...

[Yahoo! News]

Deadfest of Champions

Bestdeathpoolever is no stranger to stories about postmortem wage earning, but this royal rumble is about more than just money. Within the past year, three of the most famous contemporary American authors, Norman Mailer, Kurt Vonnegut, and William Styron, have died. If sales are to be the referee of this match, then one of them is getting declared World Champion:

According to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 70 percent of industry sales, Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five" has sold about 280,000 copies since 2006, more than four times the combined pace of six of the most talked about books of the past 60 years: Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead," "The Armies of the Night" and "The Executioner's Song," and Styron's "The Confessions of Nat Turner," "Sophie's Choice" and "Darkness Visible."

So that's it, Vonnegut wins. Of course, Vonnegut would probably object to being included in this granfalloon.

Ooh, I may have just killed this post. So it goes.

[Yahoo! News]

This Proves it. There is Life After Death

Death, while physically bad, need not be so financially. Forbes's list of top earning dead celebrities is out and once again, Elvis Presley tops the list. Elvis Presley is the New England Patriots of money earning dead celebrities. And yes, by that I mean that he illegally, secretly videotapes other dead celebrities.

The top five:

1. Elvis Presley
2. John Lennon
3. Charles Schultz
4. George Harrison
5. Albert Einstein

What does this mean for you? The Arizona Daily Star has an idea:

Now this should make you feel like a slacker: Elvis Presley earned $49 million in the last 12 months.

While dead.

You know what should make Elvis feel like a slacker though? I breathe a lot better than he does.

[Forbes]
[Arizona Daily Star]