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Episode 669: Anton LaVey Part IV - Old Wizards Die Hard
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Death on Halloween: LaVey's Final Performance and the Gandalf Thesis
At 1:51:40 · chapter starts 1:51:20
Anton LaVey died October 29, 1997, of respiratory failure — but he had pre-arranged his death certificate to say October 31st, Halloween. Even his death was a performance, and as Marcus puts it, LaVey believed there was never any reason for the truth to get in the way of a good story. [1] — Henry Zebrowski "The first half of your life is spent changing the world. The second half of your life should be spent having the world change you, because …" 1:23:02 Henry then delivers the Gandalf allegory he had promised since the opening: Gandalf the Grey had to die to become Gandalf the White. The first half of a life is for changing the world; the second half should be for letting the world change you in return. LaVey refused that transformation. He crystallized himself in mythology, surrounded himself with his own youth, refused to evolve, and became the thing he never wanted to be — a bitter, nostalgic old man clinging to a past that no longer needed him. He could have defused the Satanic Panic, could have opened the Church to public scrutiny, could have taken responsibility for what he'd built. He did none of it. That, Henry argues, is why old wizards die hard.
LaVey died October 29, 1997, but arranged his death certificate to say October 31st (Halloween), proving he believed the truth should never get in the way of a good story.
