Runners-Up: Soldiers, a kid, a despot’s brother, an actor, a rock star and a hero
Runners-up for top story of the month:
Five American soldiers in Iraq who reportedly took turns raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, after which they killed her, the girl’s parents and her 5-year-old sister. The attack “followed a session of whiskey drinking and card-playing during which five soldiers plotted the…assault”250 yards from their post. U.S. soldiers are banned from drinking alcohol while in Iraq, but such geographic-centered Prohibition has been proven a failure time and again. Who among us doubts that alcohol and other-drug addicts are responsible for war’s worst atrocities?
Brandon Menard, 21, a Boy Scout whose friends and remaining family were “dumbfounded”over his arrest for allegedly killing his parents and sister in Northridge, California. Headlines read, “Motive in killings remains mystery”over murder in what up to now appeared to be a perfect family. An article three days later mentioned, in the 18th paragraph, that Brandon had been adopted, substantially raising the odds of inherited alcoholism. The 29th paragraph in the same piece mentioned that Brandon and other Boy Scouts had a Scout meeting Thursday night, after which several went to Perversion, a “hard-core dance club on Hollywood Boulevard. They got tipsy…and went to IHOP in Hollywood to sober up,”meeting up with Brandon’s brother who was on his night-time job dinner break. The brother left at 4:30 a.m. The coroner reported that Brandon’s parents and sister all died about 6:30 a.m. Friday of multiple stab wounds. Motive? Try, “alcoholism-fueled rage.”No other motive necessary.
An article six days later, entitled “Trouble Beneath a Happy Surface,”reported that friends said Brandon “had a dark side.”There were growing tensions between the family and Brandon, who “frequently left home to live with friends.”When he returned, it wasn’t always with the best of intentions. A friend of his sister’s told reporters he had broken into his parents’ home more than once to steal jewelry, cash and credit cards. “Mrs. Menard kept giving him chances, saying, ‘Oh, he’ll change,”the friend said. “But he never did.”Indeed. If Mrs. Menard and others had understood addiction and uncompromisingly disenabled (a phrase coined in Drunks, Drugs & Debits), the Menard family might be alive today.
Raul Castro, Fidel’s brother, described in The Wall Street Journal as “an ailing septuagenarian with a reputation for heavy drinking.”Raul was also described as “one of the most ruthless revolutionary leaders”and was associated with many of the executions and purges in Cuba. He was also the brother who befriended the alcoholic revolutionary donned on T-shirts across the land, Che Guevara. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.
Actor Robin Williams, back out of a 30-day stint in rehab after his wife Marsha gave him a choice: “Either you go into rehab, or it’s over.”Fortunately, Williams, who had been sober 20 years, made the right choice. He only hopes it’s not too late, because his wife was living with a drunk and, therefore, insanity, since he relapsed two years ago with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s in a hotel room mini-bar. “I thought I could handle just one drink,”he said, after which he finished off the liquor in the mini-bar, “staggered to a local bar”and ended up back in his hotel room, having no idea how he got there. Here’s hoping that one of the most brilliant comedic actors ever stays sober, this time.
1960’s rock group Love singer Arthur Lee, who died of leukemia. Lee was the first black rock star of the post-Beatles era, and fronted the band Love through several albums, including “Da Capo”and the gorgeous, haunting songs of the album “Forever Changes,”which was ranked 40th on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant cited Lee’s influence in his 1995 acceptance speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Jimmy Hendrix reportedly took fashion cues from the “flamboyantly”dressed Lee. In classic alcoholic fashion, he could alternate charm and intimidation in order to win or get what he wanted. Love drummer Michael Stuart-Ware explained: “He liked people to acquiesce to his dominance. When he walked into a room, it was his room.”A recent incarnation, Love With Arthur Lee, included guitarist Mike Randle, who described Lee as “The sweetest, most giving man on the planet…when he was sober. But I would say he was sober 15% of the time. The rest was dealing with him and not trying to take it personally.”The last year before his diagnosis, he would often “miss gigs or show up only to stand on stage without singing.”Lee was 61.
Charles “Bud”Hayes, who dedicated the last 20 years of his life to helping addicts, dead of injuries from a motorcycle accident. After being a “stellar scholar”and student-body president of Chaminade High School in West Hills, California, he spiraled down, ending up homeless. In recovery, he assisted in the development of more than 100 alcohol and other-drug programs, sober-living centers and shelters, and recently served as executive director of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence of the San Fernando Valley. I never met Bud, but got a taste of his wisdom when I spoke with him on the phone over a year ago. One of our topics was Oracle president Larry Ellison, who he said had purchased five mansions in Malibu. I told him such extravagances were consistent with Ellison’s egomania, indicating alcoholism. At first he disagreed with me and argued that Bill Gates suffers egomania, but is certainly no alcoholic. While I couldn’t agree that Gates is an egomaniac, he suddenly said, “But Gates’ egomania is benign and Ellison’s is non-benign.”I said, “Eureka!”and clarified: non-benign egomania is a symptom of alcoholism. Thanks for the clarification, Bud. I’m so sorry we never met. Hayes was 55.