People in the News for May 27, 1998

It's Trite Maxim Day here at People in the News, where we always say, Where there's a will, there's a way. Or, more relevant to the case of Patricia Shannon and the late Charles Kuralt, where there's no will there's no way a judge is going to give you a dead guy's land. Shannon, who lives in Montana, says she was for 30 years the portly CBS newsman's secret gal; he even put her kids through school. On the basis of a letter Kuralt sent her shortly before his death, in which he wrote that he wanted her to have his Montana fishing retreat, she sued for ownership of the land. Ninety acres and several buildings -- a little something to remember Charlie by. On Tuesday, a judge dismissed her claim. No will? No way! "The decedent was an intelligent, educated man -- an articulate writer by profession, who knew how to say what he wanted to say," the judge ruled. "He clearly knew how to draft an effective holographic will, if that was his intent." The judge also threw out Shannon's claims to a Kuralt vehicle and an $8,000 check he'd sent her from his deathbed. She may not come away from her attempted land-grab empty-handed, though -- the judge said she could sue for interior decorations Shannon and Kuralt purchased together.

Briefly

It's like we always say: A Bush in the hand is ... er, two Bushes on the ground are worth ... damn, what do we always say? Heck, who can remember in all the excitement -- it's Yale Class of '48 reunion time! The big five-O! Scheduled to be on hand: economics major George Bush, perhaps best remembered as captain of the baseball team and a real swell fellow -- wasn't he voted Most Likely to Act Like He's Above the Fray, Morally? Or was it Most Likely Not to Participate in the Hostility, but Facilitate It? Either way, he plans to play it cool at the reunion, try to fit in, keep a low profile, just another ex-president going for "seconds" at the barbecue pit for competing in the three-legged race. "He doesn't want a lot of fanfare," says a Yale spokesman. What a guy! For once, trite maxims fail us.

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets

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