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Another reason it seemed strange to find Gary so silently pleased
with himself was the recent death of Ola Holcomb, who had after all
been his lover for at least several months just a couple of years
earlier. Ola had apparently committed suicide by shooting herself
in the head a couple of weeks earlier (probably at about the same
time news had reached the French Quarter of my impending visit).
When I heard that Ola had killed herself I was deeply shocked --
she was an extremely strong person. Also, she had always appeared
to be very close to her mother, with whom she was living at the
time of her death, and yet she apparently blasted her head open in
the kitchen of their apartment, leaving her remains for her mother
to discover. It was astonishing that Ola should have killed her-
self and even more peculiar to my way of thinking that Gary Kirstein
should seem in such good spirits so soon afterwards -- but while
these things struck me as odd, I did not put them together in my
mind.
In retrospect it seems to me very possible that Gary Kirstein
killed Ola. I speculate that Ola could easily have known a great
deal about Gary which -- put together with the information which
only Gary and Slim knew I already possessed - - would have made It
evident that Gary had set up the assassination of John Kennedy, to
both Ola and me. For reasons which I will go into shortly, I
believe Gary thought I already had an inkling concerning his guilt
but was keeping my mouth shut because of fear and/or my hatred for
Kennedy. Ola's politics, in spite of my having converted her to
Ayn Rand in 1961, were much more liberal than mine and there would
have been little question in Gary's mind as to what she would have
done about the discovery that Gary had assassinated Kennedy.
Now, getting back to the scene at the Quorum coffee house (very
near to which Slim was living in 1964, by the way, for whatever
that information might be worth), Gary just continued to sit there
in the semi-darlness grinning his smug grin and looking at me,
while Slim and I and various coffee house clientele made small
talk, with me very conscious of Gary's observing mute presence.
I do not remember what the subjects of this small talk were,
but some of them -- in light of the way Slim was introducing me --
must have revolved around the assassination, and my opinions con-
cerning Oswald's guilt, whether or not others were involved, etc.
Finally, Slim and Gary started making ready to leave, and --
since I felt we had not conversed much -- I must have asked Gary
something to the effect of how was he doing these days. His
reply -- although I subsequently forgot the exact context -- made
a lasting impression on me. He said he was doing fine and that
he really likedliving out in the country "because there are no
neighbors to hear screaming at night." A distinctly evil glare followed.
My immediate reaction was to give Gary a puzzled look, which
must have not been what he expected because, for the only time I
can remember, he seemed nonplused. He quickly mumbled something
about how one of these nights he was going to go out and get
himself a "nigger woman" and "beat the hell out of her."
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"ocrText": "Another reason it seemed strange to find Gary so silently pleased\nwith himself was the recent death of Ola Holcomb, who had after all\nbeen his lover for at least several months just a couple of years\nearlier. Ola had apparently committed suicide by shooting herself\nin the head a couple of weeks earlier (probably at about the same\ntime news had reached the French Quarter of my impending visit).\nWhen I heard that Ola had killed herself I was deeply shocked --\nshe was an extremely strong person. Also, she had always appeared\nto be very close to her mother, with whom she was living at the\ntime of her death, and yet she apparently blasted her head open in\nthe kitchen of their apartment, leaving her remains for her mother\nto discover. It was astonishing that Ola should have killed her-\nself and even more peculiar to my way of thinking that Gary Kirstein\nshould seem in such good spirits so soon afterwards -- but while\nthese things struck me as odd, I did not put them together in my\nmind.\nIn retrospect it seems to me very possible that Gary Kirstein\nkilled Ola. I speculate that Ola could easily have known a great\ndeal about Gary which -- put together with the information which\nonly Gary and Slim knew I already possessed - - would have made It\nevident that Gary had set up the assassination of John Kennedy, to\nboth Ola and me. For reasons which I will go into shortly, I\nbelieve Gary thought I already had an inkling concerning his guilt\nbut was keeping my mouth shut because of fear and/or my hatred for\nKennedy. Ola's politics, in spite of my having converted her to\nAyn Rand in 1961, were much more liberal than mine and there would\nhave been little question in Gary's mind as to what she would have\ndone about the discovery that Gary had assassinated Kennedy.\nNow, getting back to the scene at the Quorum coffee house (very\nnear to which Slim was living in 1964, by the way, for whatever\nthat information might be worth), Gary just continued to sit there\nin the semi-darlness grinning his smug grin and looking at me,\nwhile Slim and I and various coffee house clientele made small\ntalk, with me very conscious of Gary's observing mute presence.\nI do not remember what the subjects of this small talk were,\nbut some of them -- in light of the way Slim was introducing me --\nmust have revolved around the assassination, and my opinions con-\ncerning Oswald's guilt, whether or not others were involved, etc.\nFinally, Slim and Gary started making ready to leave, and --\nsince I felt we had not conversed much -- I must have asked Gary\nsomething to the effect of how was he doing these days. His\nreply -- although I subsequently forgot the exact context -- made\na lasting impression on me. He said he was doing fine and that\nhe really likedliving out in the country \"because there are no\nneighbors to hear screaming at night.\" A distinctly evil glare followed.\nMy immediate reaction was to give Gary a puzzled look, which\nmust have not been what he expected because, for the only time I\ncan remember, he seemed nonplused. He quickly mumbled something\nabout how one of these nights he was going to go out and get\nhimself a \"nigger woman\" and \"beat the hell out of her.\""
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