Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Luana Anders, Robert Towne, Gene Hackman, Mozart

Another fun podcast - this one on the morning of the Oscars.

I had been sensing that Gene Hackman wanted to talk to us - whether accurate or not, but there were a number of folks that I know that he knew, and I did spend a day with him in Santa Fe.

That being said, Robert Towne comes forward to talk about the film "Anora" - (Jennifer hears it as "Aurora" at first) I don't know if Robert was telling us who was going to win the Oscars a few hours later - but he does mention it first off.

Then I asked Luana if this person who passed the past week wanted to come and speak to us - and he said that it was Robert Towne who greeted him and invited him to this conversation.

Robert was the "ghost writer" on the film Bonnie and Clyde, long time collaborator with Warren Beatty. (Shampoo)  I asked Gene if he wanted to talk about his passing - it's important to report that there's been no decided upon manner of passing - and it wasn't me or Jennifer who talked about "carbon monoxide" but that's what she got.

He said it wasn't foul play, but something that happened.  He said since he believed in afterlife, it wasn't surprising for him to see his friends - but he describes the beauty of that in details.

He talks about a number of people that he saw, including our frequent guest Jimi Hendrix. We've asked Jimi about this in the past - he has said repeatedly that it's a role he likes to play because everyone recognizes him, even if they didn't know him. 

I asked if he was playing a song and asked if it might have been "Blue Suede Shoes" then reminded Jennifer we've heard multiple folks report hearing him playing that song (he recorded it in 1970).

Gene was an accomplished artists, and I asked him about art on the flipside, and he said it was like music.  He spoke of seeing Mozart - and I asked him a couple of questions. (He had shown up in a guided meditation the day before with a Viennese woman). 

We've been doing these conversations with people offstage for ten years, so apologies to those who are offended my laughing about things that he's saying - if one goes back over the past four years, they'll find many of our podcasts where we interviewed friends of Gene's on the other side.

Including Gene Wilder, including Robin Williams, Robert Towne multiple times, Fred Roos and others that Gene Hackman worked with and was friends with - including Harry Dean Stanton.

It just so happened that our podcast got delayed until today - it wasn't planned to happen this way - but when the Oscars ran their memorial, there are a number of people listed who we've interviewed on our podcast.

Thanks again to Gene and condolences to his family - and friends - but I recommend taking the time to just ask him questions. He says it in the podcast when asked "How do people reach out to you?" He says "Just ask, but believe it's possible to hear a reply."

By the way, the friend whose father I asked about the poem, said he didn't think it was accurate... that happens; Jennifer interprets what she's getting to the best of her ability.  But as we hear on the podcast it does help if the folks trying to access them allow for the possibility they still exist.