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Episode 669: Anton LaVey Part IV - Old Wizards Die Hard
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LaVey's Endgame: Blanche, Ramirez, and One Last Lie
At 1:42:22 · chapter starts 1:40:10
By 1984, even as the Church faced its worst public crisis, 54-year-old Anton LaVey was beginning a relationship with 17-year-old Blanche Barton, who had written him a fan letter from college. She would eventually write his official biography — a document Henry notes is stuffed with easily disproved lies. [1] — Marcus Parks "Before any murders, Richard Ramirez politely stopped LaVey on a San Francisco street and asked to talk Satanism. LaVey blew him off. After …" 1:40:40 LaVey's last notable brush with cultural relevance came through serial killer Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker, who had driven to San Francisco specifically to meet LaVey and politely stopped him in the street to ask for a few minutes of conversation. LaVey brushed him off and told him to write a letter instead. After Ramirez was arrested and branded America's most evil serial killer, LaVey told the press he was 'the nicest, most polite young man you'd ever want to meet' — one last button-press from a man running on fumes. Legal battles over the Church's properties with Diane dragged through the '80s. By 1993 LaVey had lost the Black House; a friend bought it back and let him live out his remaining years there at someone else's allowance. He stopped giving interviews and was hospitalized repeatedly in the final months of his life.
Before any murders, Richard Ramirez politely stopped LaVey on a San Francisco street and asked to talk Satanism. LaVey blew him off. After Ramirez was branded America's most evil serial killer, LaVey told the press he was 'the nicest, most polite young man you'd ever want to meet.' One last button-press from a man running on empty.
Anton LaVey died October 29, 1997, of respiratory failure. He had pre-arranged his death certificate to read October 31st — Halloween. Even his own death was a performance. He never let the truth get in the way of a good story, not even at the very end.
