Star Woody’s assassin dad
QUESTION Was actor Woody Harrelson’s father implicated in the JFK assassination?
Woody Harrelson’s father Charles was a notorious contract killer.
In 1980 he was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment for shooting Judge John H. Wood Jr, becoming the first person to murder a federal judge in the 20th century. at the time of his capture, he confessed to having murdered JFK — perhaps in an attempt to pass as insane.
Charles Voyde Harrelson, born July 23, 1938, in lovelady, Texas, was married four times and Woody was the son of his second union to diane lou oswald.
after a spell in the navy, and some time in los angeles, the actor’s father returned to Houston, Texas, and fell into a life of organised crime to fund his betting debts. In 1964, he split from diane and left his three sons, Woody, Brett and Jordan.
In 1968, there were two separate contract killings, of carpet salesman alan Harry Berg and grain dealer sam degelia. Harrelson was tried for the Berg murder but acquitted in 1970. Then in 1973, after a retrial, he was convicted of the degelia killing and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released after five years.
on May 29, 1979, Judge Wood — known as Maximum John for his tough sentences — was shot dead as he left his alamo Heights townhouse. It was alleged that Harrelson had been hired by el Paso drug trafficker Jimmy Chagra, who, facing a life sentence in a drug case about to be heard by Wood, paid $250,000 for the hit.
In september 1980, Harrelson surrendered to police after a six-hour stand-off, during which he confessed to the murders of Wood and John F. Kennedy.
The second claim was not taken seriously but Harrelson was sentenced to two life terms in the supermax prison adX Florence, in Colorado, where Woody visited him occasionally.
In 1988 he told nigel Turner, producer of The Men Who Killed Kennedy, that ‘on november 22, 1963, at 12.30, I was having lunch with a friend in a restaurant in Houston, Texas’. He said he wouldn’t have accepted a contract to kill JFK because he knew he’d be killed by the Mafia, like lee Harvey oswald. Harrelson died in prison in 2007. Harry Collins, Nantwich, Cheshire.
QUESTION A mess is described as a dog’s dinner. What other animal metaphors are there? anIMal metaphors are used widely in all languages to refer to human behaviour. The persistent view that we are at the pinnacle of creation has led to the majority of animal metaphors being negative and pejorative.
There are countless examples: alley cat — prostitute; bat — silly or annoying person; bird-brain — stupid person; bitch — unpleasant, unkind woman; harebrained — foolish; hound — to follow someone menacingly. and dozens more.
on the positive side, we can be as brave or noble as a lion, busy as a bee, quiet as a mouse, quick as a hare, soar high as an eagle or be as wise as an owl.
aesop incorporated animal metaphors into fables to provide education and reinforce cultural expectations. In animal Farm, George orwell uses the tribulations of the farm animals as a metaphor for the russian revolution. and in Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan swift’s society of horses is a lesson on how we should live our lives.
Gerard Millett, Truro, Cornwall.
THe Bible is a rich repository of animal metaphor. The lion is used as a metaphor for strength, eg Psalm 17:12: ‘They are like a lion hungry for prey, like a fierce lion crouching in cover.’
The bear represents ferocity, 2 samuel 17:8: ‘you know your father and his men; they are fighters, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs.’ The lamb is a symbol of gentleness and meekness, Isaiah 53:7: ‘He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.’
The deer is seen as stability in trying situations, Psalm 18:33: ‘He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.’
The ‘beast’ is an embodiment of evil, revelation 11:7: ‘now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.’
Alison Davy, Newcastle upon Tyne.
QUESTION Did an Australian aviator disappear while describing a UFO flight in the Seventies?
FurTHer to the previous answer regarding the disappearance of australian aviator Frederick Valentich in october 1978, one explanation taken seriously by the department of Transport investigation was that his fatal last flight was an elaborate suicide.
It was suggested that Valentich, a passionate believer in uFos and paranormal phenomena, staged his own death to give his fellow believers ‘proof’ we are being visited by extra-terrestrials. This might sound bizarre and far-fetched, but does stand up to some scrutiny.
sadly, Valentich was a failure. determined to make a career as a pilot, he had applied to the royal australian air Force but had been rejected twice because of his poor academic record.
In the months before his disappearance, the department of Transport had issued him a stern warning after he flew into restricted airspace over sydney’s Kingsford smith international airport.
He was possibly facing prosecution for twice flying into a cloud, something his restricted pilot’s licence did not permit him to do. He might well have lost his licence, grounding him permanently.
The discovery of wreckage matching that of Valentich’s Cessna 182 tells us that he, and his aircraft, are on the bottom of Bass strait somewhere between Victoria and Tasmania, though how they got there is a mystery.
Angus Gafraidh, London E11.
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