The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 5

Pahn Beach Post-Times, Saturday, January 7, 1978-AS Billionaire Delighted In Outrageous Events i i i Irs 8 is yy Sheila Tryk, former Post reporter and now editor of the New Mexican magazine, probably knew John D. MacArthur better than any newspaper reporter. The following is some of her remembrances about the colorful billionaire. By SHEILA TRYK SpKill to Th ftt Howard Hughes provided my introduction to John D. MacArthur.

Not that the elusive Hughes was ever aware that he had. Hughes was missing and it was rumored that he was hiding out in the Bahamas or maybe the Colonnades Beach Hotel, owned by his friend MacArthur. So I journeyed to Singer Island. The idea must have tickled Mac-Arthur I was invited to sit at his table in the hotel dining room. (I didn't realize the significance of that act then how men bad been waiting for three days to see him.

"Hughes? Hell, no, he's not here," MacArthur saidr "At least I don't think so. He puffed the inevitable cigarette, chuckled, blurted, and suggested we fly together over to Nassau to look for Hughes. "Even if we don't find him, it will be a nice vacation," he said, watching for my reaction. "Or won't that cheapskate paper spring loose for thetnp?" "Oh I don't think so," I said hastily. "Well, we'll go in my plane," he said, watching me through a cloud of smoke, and doubtlessly enjoying my squirming.

"My husband would object," I said. "Don't tell him," said MacArthur with a grin. "But I'm a Scots Presbyterian," I said, my final folly. "Great!" he explained. "So am I'" Of course, we didn't go.

didn't you?" demanded the city editor. Anything for a story.) John MacArthutj I'll miss him. They said he was ruthless, foul-mouthed, uncaring, the last of the robber barons. But to reporters whom he favored, he was a constant source of stones, outrageous quotes and humor. And to me he was never other than old-fashioned, courtly and cooperative, a professed believer in God, country and free enterprise.

MacArthur once said he didn't blame Howard Hughes for becoming a recluse. "As soon as he lets himself be seen in public they'll slap him with a subpoena and he'll have to waste all his time in courtrooms." But John MacArthur was no recluse himself. He took too much zest in living, enjoyed people and power, loved the humor of live. At first he was astounded when I said I wanted to do a story on him. "You're thinking of my brother, Charlie," he said.

"Nobody would be interested in reading about me." Charlie, the brilliant newspaperman and playwright, was closest to him in age. And when he was still quite young, MacArthur also went to work on a newspaper "to help keep an eye on Charlie" who had a well-known weakness for the bottle. "But I was never a newspaperman," MacArthur said. He was wrong. His news sense was phenomenal, and had he not gone into the billionaire business, he'd have been a top reporter or publicity man.

With a famous and successful young brother and older brother, who were already rich and successful. MacArthur was something of a failure in his own eyes as well as those of his family. "It took me 40 years to turn my first he told me once. A major article on John Mac-Arthur? He couldn't believe anyone would be interested, "I was always Charlie's brother," he said. Perhaps this diffident image of himself accounted for the unpretentious life he led.

For many years he lived in a small, simple house in Palm Beach Gardens. Walt Disney came there one time to visit, to discuss his plans for Disney World. "Walt realized he'd made a mistake in planning to build near Orlando. It's too damn cold. I told him that in the first place, but he hadn't listened," MacArthur said with a snort.

So Disney had decided to look at land west of the Palm Beaches -MacArthur's land, of course. One apocryphal story has MacArthur and Disney skinnydipping in the canal during the informal meeting It's probably true It would be like MacArthur to prove that Palm Beach County had a better climate than the Orlando area The part MacArthur liked to recall was that when they got back home, the toilet was stopped up He and Disney got a snake and plunger to try to fix It. "There was Walt Disney, discussing millions of real estate up to his elbows in my toilet" MacArthur said gleefully. Disney died not long after and the changed plans for Disney World were never put into operation Later, the MacArthurs had to move to protect their privacy and to get more help But Mac.Vrthur wasn't a mansion kind of person, and his solution was typical He bought a hotel "This way I can get the help and privacy I need, and not worry about the servant problem" he explained When double knit polyesters first came on the market, MacArthur began sporting some new slacks "Got 'em free," he said proudly, when I admired them "I own the factory." His typical garb was a sport shirt and slacks And as he ambled through the hotel, no one would have spotted him as one of the richest men in America Once, he said, a guest stopped him in the hall and asked him to change a lightbulb "1 said I'd call the maintenance department. And She said, 'Oh I thought you were the maintenance Every now and then my phone would ring In the newsroom and it would be MacArthur "There's a little story here you might be interested in he'd be gin Of course I was interested He always knew a story when he saw one Often it was a show business p-r sonality who had come to town and was staying in the Bob Hope Suite at the hotel (This two-story showplare had an enormous shower with jets of water corning from all angles at the bather beside a huge uncurtained window with a view of the ocean "I think Iteubin Askew was too scared and modest to take a shower there," said MacArthur in disgust Perhaps because of Charlie's life in the heady world of the theaters and movies, MacArthur was eternally fascinated by show business personalities even minor ones But he knew a lot of the big ones, too.

"Want to have lunch with Bob Hope'' Maybe he'll give you an inter view, if I asked him." he said. Of course I did' I shot out to the hotel "How about Lee Trevino''" he asked and once again I was on the way' "Burt Reynolds is here but he doesn't like your paper No one h.u ever written a word about him and he's a hometown boy "We're under new ownership now," I said hastily Burt Reynolds' Wow' "Maybe we can change his mind." said MacArthur So there I was having lunch with MacArthur and Burt Reynolds (Be still my heart' MacArthur began discussing his ranch not the one that tixjk up most of the southeast corner of Colo rado, but the one in Florida "You ought to n-e it," he taid "C'mon, we'll take a run out there now I was committed before I realized that Burt Reynolds was not going with us He was going to meet Dinah Shore And I couldn't back out "You drive," said MacArthur. handing me the keys to a JOO foul long Cadillac He did the navigating "Down this road Turn here Why Staff Photo by John J. Lopmot 7 cfon'f think Francis of Assist was a better friend to dogs, birds and uprooted trees, Paul Harvey told The Post prior to his broadcast. He once labeled MacArthur as the man who has 'buttered the toast for the Harvey's going on a third generation.

1- rom Page MacArthur number of years and had played golf with him. "I remember one incident with some nostalgia. We were playing, he came out and actually acted as caddy as we were playing on this particular day," Ford said, adding that the country has lost "an outstanding citizen." Jim Steli, who has been MacArthur's barber for 15 years, and last shaved the billionaire the day before Christmas, said he broke down when learning of his friend's death. "He was the greatest man I have ever known, and I have known a lot of people," he said in a thick Italian accent. "He never refused me anything.

He always said yes. He never said no." State Senate President-designate Phi! Lewis of West Palm Beach said he felt "very close" to MacArthur and called him a "pioneer" who reminded him very much of his own father. "For some reason, I just can't get over that the guy is gone," Lewis said. "He is going to be a loss to the county. People don't realize he was an industry in himself.

can be achieved under the American way of life. Golfer Jack Nicklaus, who won the World Cup and PGA Championship at MacArthur's Palm Beach Gardens country club said his friendship with the man goes back to 1971 MacArthur had "a good sense of humor" the golfer said and was "pleasant to be with through the years." In the will, which leaves most of his money to chanty, MacArthur wanted to leave his body to science. But friends said because of his age and disease, that won't be possible. "I am mindful of the fact that most people attend funerals only as a matter of duty and in order to be seen by others in attendance," he wrote in the will made out Feb. 19, 1963.

However, he said he wouldn't mind in a month ou so if his wife wants a memorial service or get together. "Such a function would present a reasonable opportunity and excuse for my relatives and friends to get together for a visit and -perhaps with the aid of a drink or two to reminisce, as people like to do, over past events and departed friends," MacArthur said in his will. The will was filed yesterday In the probate division of Circuit Court in Chicago, where the keystone of his wealth Bankers Life and Casualty Co has headquarters. His attorney, William T. Kirby, s.ud must of the billionaire's assets were assigned to two trusts set up while MacArthur was still alive.

The trusts, upon his death, went to two charitable foundations, the John and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Retirement Research Foundation The trust which goes to the MacArthur foundation includes all the stock of Bankers Life and Casualty Co. which has assets of SI -24 billion. All of his stock in Citizens Bank and Trust Co. of suburban Park Ridge goes to the Retirement Research Foundation The bank has resources of $415 million Included in the will is $5,000 for Mat-Arthur's first wife, Louise Ingals MacArthur, who is the mother of his two children "It will be some months before an accurate estimate can be made of the value of the assets that go to the family," Kirby said "A low preliminary figure of over $1 million in real estate and over $1 million in persona! property" is stated in the will There was nothing he wouldn't do to bring the economy up." "The beauty of John MacArthur was he shook hands meaningfully with some of the most powerful men in the world and shook hands just as meaningfully with the man out there who did the yard," Kairalla said.

MacArthur was one of two billionaires left in the United States and he was labeled both "brilliant" and "humble" by Jerry Thomas, former undersecretary of the Treasury Department. "He once told me if ever a book was factually written about he wanted it called "Luck." But, believe me luck helps, but so does creativity," Thomas said. "To rise from the humblest type of financial origin to reach the heights as one of the wealthiest and powerful mjii in the world should not pass unnoted at This time," said Palm Beach developer Stanley J. Harte, who bought the Biltmore Hotel in Palm Beach from MacArthur a few months ago for $5.34 million. Harte, who has renamed the most posh suite in the building after the tycoon, said MacArthur proved there is no limit to what rom Page you going so slow' I pointed out the speed limit.

"Oh I never pay attention to that," he said with a chuckle "The cops stop me and say 'Now now. Mr MacArthur, you know you aren't supposed to go 60 in a 30 mile zone That's all "You're the billionaire, not me," I told hirn I stayed with the speed limit Then suddenly we were at thr lit tie airfield, and I was being told to park beside a small private plane with pilot waiting I was horrified "A plane' I get nrk in planet MacArthur looked hurt He thought I wanted to see his ranch The ranch was on the other side of Lake Okeechobee. How else would we get there I got on the plane "Is that some of my land''" Mac-Arthur asked "Let's have a took The plane banked sickeningly. swerving close to the smoky areas My stomach went the other way. Fortunately, the pilot had a bag Unfortunately, he wasn't quite fast enough.

MacArthur searched for Kleenex and looked angry. He patted me on the shoulder. "I hope it's not the company," he said hestitantly. He was one of a kind and intensely human. He loved and respected his wife, and spoke proudly of her business acumen but he couldn't remember how many grandchildren he had or what their names were.

He could shrug off a business deal that might have netted him a million, but he'd never offer a cigarette to anyone. He could spot a phony in a second, but would be awed by a second-rate movie star. Miss him? You bet I will. I haven't seen him in years, but I'll miss his funny notes, I'll miss knowing he's there, still giving 'em hell, still chortling that he'd fooled the damn doctors one more time. Hayes The peppery actress as outspoken as John MacArthur had been -said she felt ambivalent toward the man.

"People looked to him with admiration grudging or not kind of a sneaking affection. There was within all the MacArthurs a sweetness that in undeniable. I don't really think you could ever feel anything but affection for them and John was the same." If there was any one thing that gave the insurance magnate satisfaction in life, it was outwitting people, she said. And, to this day, Miss Hayes said she can't figure out why. "I don't know why he did that.

If he could do you out of a dinner check, he was happy. The only thing he had in life was his money." She described MacArthur as a prankster in his youth and related one humorous incident where his brother was opening a big, fancy building with his name "Telfer Mac-Arthur, Proprietor" etched in stone in front. At the grand opening, John MacArthur had wheeled a small hot dog truck up and parked it by the grand building. It had a sign on it saying: "Hot Dog. John MacArthur, proprietor." "I think he was compensating for the fact he didn't know how to live with people so he had to have some kind of security and that's the way he achieved it making more and more money," she explained with an insight on the man that has never before been made public.

"I don't think he enjoyed it. He enjoyed the power." She described MacArthur as "an awful strain on his family, a determined black sheep." "He was not going to give up that flop 5" 1 Aw fe VI 8 mmwmmtmmtmf role he had written for himself in his youth," Miss Hayes said, recalling an ice skating party in the early 1920s when MacArthur sat on the sidelines, and she was unable coax him to join in and be one of the group. He outgrew some of his uneasiness with people and his interviews were all "brilliant," she said, adding he had that "MacArthur gift for words" his brothers shared. He was eccentric in some ways, she said, but stories of eccentricity spread rapidly when talking of people who have climbed to the select rank of billionaire. "He was definitely eccentric.

He followed no rule of behavior known to man. He was certainly different. He was odd. I don't know whether ie wanted to be like anyone else." Over the years, the actress said her brother-in-law grew in wisdom and was "extraordinarily wise" in recent years. But, apparently without realizing it, he hurt her deeply last year when he sent her a copy of a letter where he referred to his deceased brother (her husband) as brilliant but an alcoholic.

It almost stopped her from going to Orlando to see him at the American Academy of Achievement gathering. The crusty, aging tycoon was genuinely glad to see her at the event and met her plane when it arrived. She spoke warmly of him to the crowd, but declined an invitation to spend time at his Colonnades Beach Hotel on Singer Island because she had other commitments. "John and I were the only two left in the family in our generation," she said sadly. "I don't know what to make of him." StoH Artwork by Jim Johnston Two of the things MacArthur took the most pride in were the DM Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens and the Biltmore Hotel in Palm Beach.

MaqArthur sold the Biltmore for $5.34 million to developer Stanley J. Harte a few months ago. Jack Nicklaus was a friend of Mac-Arthur's and won the World Cup and PGA Championship at MacArthur 's country club..