Besides speaking to Garrison's Assistant D.A.'s, Ferrie also spoke to press before he died. One common element of all the stories is the fact that David Ferrie was sick. He told reporters that he was suffering from encephalitis - although Lardner writes emphysema. The third article below, by David Snyder, adds a lot of color - and is similar to an earlier dispatch I posted.
David Ferrie in better days...
The first article to quote Ferrie was the New Orleans States-Item of February 18, 1967:
Here is an excerpt of the New Orleans Times-Picayune story (section on Ferrie starts on the left three paragraphs down) from of February 19,1967:
I love Ferrie's response to being told he will become a national celebrity - "What will being a national celebrity get me? Thirty-five cents and being a national celebrity will get you a hamburger. I want to be left alone to my flying."
Here is an article from the New Orleans States-Item from February 23, 1967, the day after David Ferrie died.
Interestingly, Ferrie wanted to arrange for a lie detector test in case he was arrested.
George Lardner, a reporter for the Washington Post, was the last person to see David Ferrie alive. Here is his in-depth report.
George Lardner was also questioned by William Gurvich, an investigator for Jim Garrison:
