The Historical Society of Southern California has an informative biography of Howard Hughes, which begins with the following:
The peaks and valleys of his life were startling. As an aviator, he once held every speed record of consequence and was hailed as the world’s greatest flyer, “a second Lindbergh.” At various points in his life he owned an international airline, two regional airlines, an aircraft company, a major motion picture studio, mining properties, a tool company, gambling casinos and hotels in Las Vegas, a medical research institute, and a vast amount of real estate; he had built and flown the world’s largest airplane; he had produced and directed “Hell’s Angels,” a Hollywood film classic.
Yet by the time he died in 1976, under circumstances that can only be described as bizarre, he had become a mentally ill recluse, wasted in body, incoherent in thought, alone in the world except for his doctors and bodyguards. He had squandered millions and brought famous companies to the financial brink. For much of his life, he seemed larger than life, but his end could not have been sadder.
I don’t know if it’s true, but a reliable source once said that one of Howard Hughes’ idiosyncracies was that, when he had dinner with a potential business partner, if they salted their food before they tasted it, he wouldn’t do business with them. It makes a certain amount of sense when you think about it. One could say it demonstates a certain lack of caution to season something before you know it needs it, or how much it needs. Of course, odd as he became, maybe it had nothing to do with common sense. Maybe he was just twisted.
An urban myth. See: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Business (Movers and Salt Shakers).
How very interesting–about the urban myths, I mean.