Day Hughes died left strong feelings

Bob Maheu was on a retirement cruise in the Greek islands in April 1976 when a crew member on the yacht delivered the news.

Howard Hughes, one of the most powerful men in the world and Maheu's boss for 13 years, was dead.

The next day, when the yacht reached the Athens harbor, Maheu cried while reading accounts of Hughes' emaciated condition.

Hughes had spent four years in a Desert Inn penthouse, from 1966 to 1970, communicating with but never meeting Maheu, who put his boss's wishes into motion.

Shortly after Hughes was whisked out of Las Vegas on Nov. 5, 1970, on a jet for the Bahamas, Maheu was informed his $500,000-a-year job was terminated.

Maheu was "very depressed," his son, Peter Maheu, said Wednesday, two days after his father died at age 90. "He felt he was betrayed by people who at one time were his friends. He knew Hughes left here unwillingly."

Bob Maheu sued within days and later won a settlement of millions of dollars that was whittled down to "two something," his son said.

"His animosity was never toward Hughes. He always had a respect for Hughes. He knew who was driving the train, and it wasn't Howard. It was Bill Gay and Chester Davis of the so-called Mormon Mafia," the executives who moved to take over Hughes' empire.

Local author Jack Sheehan said in an e-mail Wednesday that he twice interviewed Bob Maheu about the contentious split.

Sheehan said Maheu was still embittered the day he heard Hughes had died. When Sheehan asked Maheu how he reacted to the news that day, Maheu recalled saying, "I hope he suffered."

Peter Maheu said he has heard his father's account of the day on many occasions but never that version.

"He always said he cried when he heard about it. I've heard him say that about Gay and Davis. He knew who stole the cookies."

Sheehan said Bob Maheu was devastated when he read about Hughes' emaciated condition, weighing less than 100 pounds and with broken-off needles in his arms.

During the two interviews, Sheehan said, Maheu broke down and said he felt ashamed of himself for his initial reaction to the news.

But, Sheehan said, "As the years passed and time dissolved the hard feelings about the breakup of their partnership, Maheu nearly always preferred to talk about Hughes' brilliance and his contributions to mankind -- his role in legitimizing Las Vegas, his aeronautical accomplishments, his contributions to medical research, etc."

Maheu once told Sheehan, "I've had enough of the long hair and long fingernails stories. Let's talk about the positive legacy of this man. There's never been anyone like him, and I doubt there ever will be."

Maheu's funeral will be at noon Saturday at St. Viator Catholic Church, 4150 S. Eastern Ave.

One of Maheu's requests was that his cremated remains and those of his wife of 62 years, Yvette, be returned together to his hometown in Waterville, Maine, and interred there. She died in 2003.

GENE WILLIAMS DIES

Gene Williams, bass singer of a spinoff of The Platters, died Tuesday in Las Vegas after a battle with pancreatic cancer, his management team said.

Williams was a member of The Buck Ram Platters, a group formed by Ram, manager of the original Platters. Williams is survived by a daughter, Leonsay.

His two sons, Brian and Kevin, died three months apart in 2002, both under unusual circumstances.

Brian Williams, the Orlando Magic's No. 1 draft pick in 1991 after he starred at the University of Arizona, went missing and was presumed dead after a sailboat trip off Tahiti with his girlfriend and his brother.

Two weeks later, Kevin Williams was seen bringing the boat back to Tahiti by himself. Police detained him in Phoenix two months after the incident and questioned him for buying $152,000 in gold by forging his brother's name.

Kevin Williams died of an insulin overdose three months after the disappearance of Brian Williams and his girlfriend, according to published reports.

"Gene was very stoic about it," said Gayle Schreiber, a member of Williams' management team.

SIGHTINGS

Jon Lovitz, having lunch at Simon at Palms Place on Wednesday. ... Sheikha Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, queen of Bahrain, dining at Morels French Steakhouse & Bistro at Palazzo on Tuesday night with two assistants and four security personnel.

THE PUNCH LINE

"The government of China guaranteed that the Beijing Olympics will be safe. They know the Olympics will be safe because they've already written the next three weeks of news stories." -- Conan O'Brien

Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.