Mel the Alkie and other tales.....I think to understand how he could have come up with his anti--Semitic ravings and not be a deep down bigot, you've either had to have grown up in an alcoholic home or be an alcoholic who has stopped and sponsors other alcoholics in rehab. My mother was a rip roaring alcoholic from the day I was born til the day she died. She was so drunk when I was born that they had to dry her out in the hospital while I remained in the maternity ward for weeks on end.

Alcoholics are possesed by visions, voices, hallucinations, and periods of rage. My mother ranted that the sky was green, that there were leprechauns and she was talking to them, her hates were encylopedic in scope (every race and nationality), her dislike of everyone who worked for us was made clear to everyone, and she insulted everyone every day. During her brief periods of being sober she was a very nice person who liked everyone. Most doctors who treat a range of drug problems will tell you that alcohol addiction is the worst in terms of visible damage to people. Bela Lugosi was a heroin addict for twenty five years who never bothered anyone and was never late for a shoot; John Barrymore was an alcoholic who was late to everything and sometimes was too drunk to work. On the other hand again, one time my mother went off on a Russian at a party; she had never said anything about Russians in her life. Alcoholics have a job to do and you can count on them to be very nasty people and anything will set them off.