Kathryn Grayson, movie musical star and onetime Hughes fiancee, has died

Kathryn Grayson, the soprano who starred in popular MGM movie musicals such as "Kiss Me Kate" and "Show Boat," has died in Los Angeles. She was 88.

In 1954, Grayson was seriously involved with Howard Hughes. In fact, Hughes asked her to marry him and she accepted, though it didn't work out, in part because at the time Hughes really was in love with Jean Peters, whom he eventually married.

Richard Hack, a Hughes biographer, goes into some detail about the Hughes-Grayson affair in his 2001 book, "Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters."

According to Hack:

- "As she (Grayson) tells the story, Hughes appeared one night on her front lawn [of her parents' house in Pacific Palisades] and refused to leave, at which point her father Charles grabbed a shotgun and went to vanquish the intruder. When she next saw her father, the sun had risen, she was heading to work, and the two new best friends were talking aviation."

- "Initially, Kathryn was not attracted to this man who had literally roamed into her home like a stray cat that lingers near the back door, hoping to be tossed a scrap of food or be offered a warm leg against which to rub. Her love built slowly, glimpses stacked upon gestures which when taken alone were meaningless, yet when assembled became like the complex jigsaw puzzle that one feels obliged to show off to neighbors and friends for its difficulty and brilliance."

Peters married Stuart Cramer on May 29, 1954, despite continuing to have feelings for Hughes and vice versa. But Hughes had not taken the next step with Peters and Cramer moved quickly. Soon thereafter, Hughes asked Grayson to marry him and she accepted.

Hughes planned to follow through on a Las Vegas wedding, but, Hack writes, a premonition of disaster involving a child kept Grayson from going along.

"Hughes was already at his plane preparing to fly the couple to Las Vegas when he received the news, and despite his efforts to change her mind, Kathryn was unwavering. Hughes flew to Las Vegas alone and received word after he had returned to the Green House: Kathryn's young nephew Timothy had drowned in her brother's swimming pool at exactly the time their wedding was to take place."

About a month after her marriage to Cramer, Peters moved out and started divorce proceedings. Hughes, of course, helped her to speed up the divorce. He also hired a private consultant named Robert Maheu to investigate Cramer.

A couple of years later, Hughes, mentally unstable at the time, approached Grayson again about getting married, but this time she refused. This angered Hughes, who "slapped her hard across the face," according to Grayson and related by Hack. She told him she never wanted to see him ever again. That's when Hughes turned his attentions again to Peters, whom he soon married.

For more info on Grayson, go here.

New details released on Project Azorian

The CIA has just released an internal document kept secret for 25 years describing Project Azorian in considerable detail, though not entirely. This was the U.S operation to retrieve a sunken Soviet submarine from the Pacific Ocean. Howard Hughes' lent his name to the effort to give the United States cover. Thus the common reference to the "Hughes Glomar Explorer."

Find the full story here. At the end of this Associated Press article, there are links to the 50-page CIA document.

Hughes had role in creation of modern sand wedge

Mary Ann Sarazen, daughter of the late golfing legend Gene Sarazen, tells the story of how her father got the idea for the modern sand wedge. Naturally, there's a Howard Hughes connection. Check out the story here.

Hughes link to ‘Avatar'

The filmmaking history being made by James Cameron's "Avatar" owes a nod of a fedora to Howard Hughes. The 3D film was filmed primarily in Hughes' Playa Vista hangar where he built the flying boat. More here.

Nice profile of HRH's father

Investor's Business Daily recently printed an article on Howard Hughes Sr. and his breakthrough drill bit. I was interviewed for the piece and a few quotes ended up in the story. The reporter did a nice job of summarizing how Hughes Sr. made it big. Find the story here.

‘Howard Hughes’ now available on Kindle e-reader

If you have joined the digital revolution and own a Kindle e-reader, you can now read my book, "Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia & Palace Intrigue," on that device.

The best news is that buying a Kindle edition is considerably cheaper than the old-fashioned codex version. The Kindle edition is $9.95, while the regular hardcover book is $25.95.

Hughes panel discussion in Vegas Thursday night

Paul Winn, Bob McCaffery and I will be at the Springs Preserve from 6:30-8 on Thursday evening to discuss Howard Hughes' life and legacy in Las Vegas. Paul worked for Hughes for many years and is becoming known as someone who is not shy about rebutting wild speculations about Hughes. Bob is very knowledgeable about Hughes, especially his exploits in the aviation field. I wrote a book about Hughes' years in Las Vegas. The moderator will be Lynn Zook, who coordinates the Springs Preserve's "Untold Stories" series. There is a fee to attend.

Flying boat flight anniversary

Today is the 62nd anniversary of the 1947 flight of Howard Hughes' HK-1 flying boat, aka the "Spruce Goose."

Another unlikely story

So, I'm perusing the Fall 2009 issue of Nevada Silver & Blue, the alumni magazine of the University of Nevada, Reno. I get this magazine because I am a proud alumnus of that university.

This issue contains an article titled, "Industrialist Howard Hughes Played a Major Role in Establishment of the School of Medicine."

This much, of course, is true. Hughes donated a couple hundred thousand dollars starting in 1969 to get the medical school off the ground.

But then I came across the following, as told by the school's founding dean, Dr. George Smith:

"I talked to Mr. Hughes directly one time after he gave the commitment. I went to his penthouse in Las Vegas and talked to him through a window to thank him."

This, as most Hughes historians believe, is highly unlikely. Hughes saw very few people during his four years at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. He was a recluse and did not greet visitors.

Mr. Smith, no doubt respected in his field and all that, either is not telling the truth about this scenario or he was somehow fooled into believing he was talking to Hughes when he was not.

It is very common, I have found, for people to feel a need to tell people they met with Hughes while he was in Las Vegas. I don't know why but otherwise respectable people try to perpetuate these almost-certain fictions.

You can read the alumni magazine article here.

Hughes key character in latest Ellroy novel

Novelist James Ellroy's latest novel, Blood's a Rover, is the last in a trilogy about America's criminal underworld. The first two novels were American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand.

According to marketing descriptions and reviews of the new book, Howard Hughes is a prominent character, covering his buying of Las Vegas casinos during the late 1960s.

It's important to note that Ellroy writes fiction. He uses real-life characters such as Hughes and Richard Nixon, but he has created an alternate, speculative history here. Although Ellroy's speculative take may be entrancing or persuasive as representing something closer to "what really happened," in the end it is fiction, intended primarily for entertainment, not enlightenment.