I remember being in California, years ago, and going to a hotel room to do a deal. The TV was tuned to this guy, televangelist Gene Scott. I laughed and said "You're not actually watching this guy, are you?" as I did my smack.
The dealer looked at me seriously and replied "Gene Scott is one of the most informed men in the country" he replied, doing his dope.
Within a minute, as if on cue, Gene Scott started commenting on "people abusing the opium poppy".
Damn weird.
Televangelist Gene Scott Dies at Age 75
Tue Feb 22, 4:55 AM ET U.S. National - AP
LOS ANGELES - Gene Scott, the shaggy-haired, cigar-smoking televangelist whose eccentric religious broadcasts were beamed around the world, has died, a family spokesman said. He was 75.
Scott died Monday after suffering a stroke, said the spokesman, Robert Emmers.
The longtime pastor of Los Angeles University Cathedral began hosting a nightly television broadcast of Bible teaching in the mid-1970s. His University Network eventually aired a nightly talk show and Sunday morning church services on radio and television stations in about 180 countries.
Scott's church, a Protestant congregation of more than 15,000 members, raised millions of dollars through round-the-clock Internet and satellite TV broadcasts, where he would demand of viewers: "Get on the telephone!" to donate.
In some of his speeches, Scott would deliver complex lectures on Biblical languages to make points about the meaning of faith. But he also spoke on current events, sometimes lacing his sermons with profanity.
He supported the war in Iraq (news - web sites). "Iraq is a threat to the world," he said in a 2003 speech posted on his Web site. "So kick the hell out of 'em, George."
Recognizable by his mane of white hair and scruffy beard, Scott never stuck to a conventional format in his talk show. He sometimes smoked on the show and once wore glasses with eyes pasted on them.
Unlike other televangelists, Scott's sermons did not condemn homosexuality, abortion or other hot-topic sexual issues. He argued such issues were a personal choice.
Scott, the son of a traveling preacher, had a lavish lifestyle that included a chauffeured limousine, contact with political bigwigs and, he claimed, 300 horses.
But he also spent lavishly on charity. After a fire badly damaged the Los Angeles Central Library, he organized a telethon that raised $2 million. In 2002, Scott gave $20,000 to save the Museum in Black from eviction. The museum has some 5,000 items from the slave and civil rights eras.
Scott came under scrutiny by authorities on several occasions, including by the state attorney general's office in 1977, which suspected him of fraud. The investigation was dropped, however, after the Legislature passed a law barring prosecution of civil fraud against tax-exempt religious organizations.
