Elvis - A Lighted Candle

[Amanda Viola]

I've just thought about one more, kind of tricky:

- What do you think about the "cult" some people are building about Elvis Presley? How do you think your book will affect it?

Best wishes, Wanda. We'll be there with you.

[Rainbow Light]

Going to contemplate on it, see if I can come up with anything!

[RIO]

How do you know what Elvis told you is the truth and not what he wanted you to think about him ? Is very hard for a person addicted to anything be true to yourself and accept it unless you really want to get out of it.
- Don´t you think there are too many stories from friends and family that were living with him that not match with his telephone conversations with you relating his health problems ? I assume you know prescription drugs used im big amounts and for a long period of time damage the liver, colon, heart , kidneys...
- Do you think not having complete sex with women is being faithful to your wife ? Would any of you accept that from your husbands ?

I´m not saying all this to judge your intentions with your book or judge Elvis behavior ( I was going to buy it anyway ) but the life of a person is full of bad and good actions, that´s why we come to earth, to learn from them. His faults were the same as ours we mortals not better not worse and that´s why so many people are still in love with him, for being so humble and generous despite his money and success.
I agree there are too many bad stories told about him since his death and it´s time someone tells his positive side that weighs a lot more than his bad one but denying his addiction and bigamy won´t make them disapear from his past. You are right, i wasn´t there to know for sure but there are too many people that were and tell the same story all over again and they are not from the MM.

I´m sorry if this post disturb any of you or yourslef Wanda but you asked for questions and was wondering this time ago because i think you are not objective in this two matters.

[Amanda Viola]

¡Hola, Río!

I'm sure that Wanda will answer your questions, but due you and me share the same frame of time, excuse me is I advance a commentary of my own.

Truth is always difficult to discern. In this present period of time, it's more true than ever, because of the incredible amount of impacts we recieve from the media, each one with its own interest to be followed. It's a confussing time for us. The only possibility for us, always from my point of view, is to learn to "feel" what is true and what is not.

Truth resounds in our heart. It is not easy to descrive it, but it's something like a kind of vibration, something like an inner confirmation that it is OK. I understand that it may have to do with energy waves. The deeper center of our heart is in harmonic with Love, Light and Truth. Intellect is absolutely in other frecuency. So, alike attracts alike and something starts vibrating in the same wave lenght. It's similar to the effect of some kind of music that resounds inside us.

Many of us do feel Elvis. I'm sure you do. The question is that our learnt cultural conditioning, make us doubtful of our own feelings. So, we go directly to the head, to thinking, to try to find an answer that may give us confidance. We don't want to be taken as nuts, or foolish or too naive. I feel that as much as we dare to trust in ourselves, the more we'll gain confidence and will develop the potential we all have to relate directly with Truth, without intermediaries.

All this above is to come to: I do believe that I recognize Truth in what Wanda is saying about Elvis, and in his own words too.


I understand very well your worry and I would love to be able to summit to you a new perspective.

Best wishes, Río.

[RIO]

Thanks for your answer Amanda.
I´m not trying to question your feelings or try to change them nor I´m going to question your spiritual beleives, my questions have nothing to do with that. My doubts here are based in some facts that everybody could see wether he had his reasons for them or not. Have you seen the Aloha interview ? it was in 73 i think, far before he got so ill. I agree with you all about Elvis soul, he was one of the most generous, loving, spiritual, caring people that have lived but that has nothing to do with carnal weaknesses. We all have them and sure he had them too.
Hasta pronto

[Blue Moon]

Hi Rio,

I noticed that Elvis did appear less energetic in the '73 Aloha interview. Perhaps Wanda can address what may have happened.

Wanda has mentioned elsewhere in this forum that Elvis did have trouble with sleeping pills and pain killers in the mid-70's (Wanda, please correct me if remember wrong) but that by the last year or two of his life he was back down to taking only prescribed amounts.

[Amanda Viola]

Dear Rio,

Of course I didn't feel that you were questioning me at all. Sorry if I gave you that impression. It was not my intention. Only tried -deficiently, indeed - to give some insight about the difficulty of finding the "objective" truth outside of ourselves. And then, I pronounced my own position about what you were considering. I was not asked directly, I know, but I do love to take the first steps ahead. (It must be my Aries ascendant...)

[renenutet]

My english is not good enough and I'm probably not even smart enough to have a deep discussion about it. But my heart tells me that Elvis was not the kind of person to lie. I believe everything he says. You may say I'm naive. But I'm convinced that he wasn't addicted to anything, but to the love he felt for his fans.

[Blue Moon]

Rio, below is a quote from Wanda which addresses the sleeping pill & pain killer issues and some of his health problems. For the full post, go to X Transcripts, Lisa & Elvis 1974, page 4.

As for the sleeping pills, he said he had cut way back on everything, that he was taking only the exact prescribed amounts and not "doubling up on anything" and that he "couldn't do that anymore". He knew his liver was not so good-he had liver biopsey work done and was told but I don't know what exactly except he was "in trouble" and had to watch it. Also, he had all his meds in little envelopes/packets and they were doled out to him in that manner when he needed to take them. He had a nurse making the packets, he had his step-brother (s) overseeing and bringing them to him-(probably a mistake but he wanted them to know he trusted them and he would put the wolf in charge of the sheep if that's what he thought it took) anyway, he was pleased with himself for having "weaned away" from sleeping pills and pain killers- two of his doctors said the same thing-and according to the toxicolgy reports after his death he had ONLY the prescribed amounts in his system- except for one that I can't believe he took-we had discussed the side affects just days before, also he had called a nurse and asked her about that prescription and his heart-she told him he should not mix that with some of the other things he must take. He WOULD not have done so as he was planning to go on tour and it did affect his breathing and could have caused rapid heart beat when least expected. BUT it did resemble another of his meds that were strong pain medication-taken by him for his "guts" which was in its self not good for them as it caused "relaxation of the big bowel" and thus blockage was more apt to occour- He had to exercise to prevent that so he played a little racchet ball and did karate in short spurts...he also rode a stationery bike quite a bit
and he practiced singing every day-deep breathing etc: but it was getting hard for him to get his breath-probably due to his heart being crowded by his tranverse colon and etc:. Anyway, he was in pretty good shape considering all the problems physically-internally-he looked better, was thinner and not quite so puffy around the middle. And his face and hands were not so puffy when I saw him last. In Vegas he wasn't fat except right at the rib line and waist and only in front-no fat roll, just right at the midline and NOT like normal belly fat. His back, arms, legs were thin and he had no butt left-his suit the rainbow one was very loose and looked too big for him. People in the front sections were appalled by how sick he appeared, weak and the water poured off his body-even off his hair! It dripped into a puddle on the floor from his hand that was hanging down. A big puddle, visable on the floor. I had never seen that-as much as he sweated sometimes, that had never been.
He had a grayish color to his skin, his lips were blue tinged when he sat on a chair just a few feet from our table-a doctor was sitting there with his wife, who said he had something wrapped around his waist-the doctor said it's surgical support bandage-he's had surgery, what is he doing up there working? He thought it had to have been recent-like a few weeks ago-and that was why he was that "color". He couldn't get over him up there working-and said he's had abdominal surgery sure as anything-wouldn't have that on if he hadn't. It sure was not a girdle! And Elvis was having to go off stage abruptly around those times-something he might have to do if he'd had that kind of surgery-he would have been afraid of "accidents" etc: and he also had been sick and missed some shows during that engagement- he was throwing up behind the side curtain-he did that one night we were there... and he was very pale. And having trouble breathing-that's why they took him to the hospital-he couldn't get air and had "chest pains". He had at least 2 maybe 3 heart attacks before his death and no one realized that was what was happening-maybe not even him if it were in his sleep as often they are...though they would leave him weak and breathless afterward. He complained of pain in the middle of his shoulders-like a mule kicked him-another sign of a failing heart...I do not know what those stupid, money grubbing doctors thought they were doing-why he trusted them, when they just took and took, gifts etc: and didn't see what was going on for the image I guess.
So many were blinded by it-especially those around him
apparently. The image was too big and Elvis was too good an actor and he kept things to himself when he should have been screaming at the top of his lungs. He was "taking care of them so much and so long" I guess he couldn't not do it at that point. . .

[Lighthouseseeker]

Just to add what I think..with Elvis ,you have to reconsider the standardized views on some subjects or rules..I don't think there are many people have eyes as Elvis had for other people ,a capacity of love,an ability of seeing beauty in a person even if he-she was fulll of faults,a need to help or give an instant uplift to a total stranger.. I think this involves some of the sleeping together,or having some time togethers also,of course he needed other women for his own needs of trust ,love, understanding,having a little time without being questioned,or just getting involved with some other person's life and concerns then his own circle of problems... his being close,loving and warm with other people had some different orientationes then the typical instincts that could come to peoples minds at first thought.. just look,how he could easily kiss or hug a stranger with a sincere love and affection,the truth was in his eyes and smile..besides, how could we be sure all "his" expectations of a marriage were fulfilled..
As for Wanda,she could be very taugh on him and sometimes is very or even "too much"(for me) objective ,on their family problems..that's my point of view..and as Amanda said, we have to trust our senses more.. we are not here to prefer to believe the good things about him, it is because what we really see in him ..Elvis is not designed by our imaginations to fit our dreams,he is real and unique among his own kind,called "the human"..because he was one of a kind,and there is no other example such as him or his life to compare, many people will continue to misjudge Elvis..but some of us will go on trusting and believing,what our hearts eyes see..

[Wanda June Hill]

Very good Zey, you have the eyes of a hawk and have picked things out clearly and put it well. precise and to the point. Unlike me, who rattles along, on and on...to say less. Good girl. wjh

[Lighthouseseeker]

if what you said was less,then we could'n have been so bold to talk..
thank you Wanda..

[Wanda June Hill]

One of the first things I noticed about Elvis was that he tried to be truthful, even to the point of looking ridicules himself. He told me he wanted a virgin wife, that Pris was and he wanted to keep her so in 1965 and again in 66. He admited that he had "given in to some" of her inticements and wished he hadn't but it was too late to go back-but he would not change his mind about sex until they married. He wanted to have God's blessings on their union, it was important to him. He wanted a church wedding or to be married by a preacher at Graceland...but the Col. arranged otherwise...and Elvis went along with it to keep down the crowd problems-he didn't want Priscilla's wedding day ruined by fans and the media etc;. He was so happy being married, expecting a child and getting past the both of them baby jitters when she was sure and he wasn't sure then either-they got over that and were happy. He loved her being the little house wife, coming home to her and having less commotion and bothering from the guys who were sent to Tennessee and Mississippi and other places with only those living in the LA/Palm Springs area being handy if he needed them. Such jealously that started-oh my-the back stabbing etc;...anyway, Elvis was tired of the movies, he had to do something else or he wasn't going to have much money to keep things going as they were all used to having. So the tv show deal came along and he jumped at it though he was scared to death. While he was so wrapped up in that his wife was neglected...he was also neglecting her in other ways because he didn't want her to be pregnant again for at least a year-he wanted her to have time to adjust and thought she needed it to get her confidence and figure back as she wanted to be...I think if there was no real sex between them-intercourse-it was because he wouldn't let her take the pill and he was alergic to many contraceptives. Maybe he didn't explain things well, he was very macho in some ways, and expected women to just do what he said and be glad of it. She on the other hand thought he was not interested in her or something and blamed it on not looking the same etc: after the baby???? Where that notion came from I don't know-he certainly didn't seem to have a problem with other women who had kids... Too many different ones have come forth saying too many different things-I believe them. Elvis never lied about seeing other women, but he didn't do it until he found out she had been with another guy-just a few weeks after the birth of Lisa-when Elvis was wrapped up body and soul in doing that tv special, making it the best ever and laying everything he had out there with the hope it would jump start his career that had dropped off to no records in the top 20 and his movies flat lining. He had to do something-he was going to be running out of money fast....he had too many people depending on him for their living. and as he was the first to say, when he was working like that, it took everything in him to get it done, his mind, his heart and soul was on just one thing, doing the best he could.
And he admitted he didn't notice, didn't listen and didn't pay attentionn to Priscilla. He said it was his fault, he didn't notice and he lost her. After that, he tried his best to forget the other guy, he forgave her but then it happened again and he couldn't forget and therefore couldn't forgive though he tired. He said he couldn't get the picture out of his head of her being with another guy and if he couldn't clear that, it would never be any good again. I think he began taking prescription drugs more at that time in his life, trying to forget, to kill the pain in his heart, and yes, I know they affect the liver, colon, heart and nervous system. He already had the colon problem from birth and he was nervous anyway. And he had the enlarged heart as well-drugs were not the answer-but in 1964 when he went for help for anxiety attacks and not sleeping doctors prescribed sleeping pills and tranqualizers that normally very old people are given!!!
I couldn't believe it-but they did. Way too powerful for a young, vital man who had to work. He knew that his glacoma was being made worse by speed so he stopped using it in the 70's. He stayed up for days not sleeping, his friends say that-though some of them say he never had any problem sleeping, he could drop off anywhere-well, that's so-when he was taking sleeping pills, but he tried not to take them. When he finally realized his marriage was over in Hawaii for the Aloha special, at a time when he was "drug free" completely off them all except those needed for his eyes and colon. He got off the drugs, got in shape and hoped that his wife would return to him and bring their little girl to Hawaii to be there for that show. But she didn't. He knew it was over and about then he started taking sleeping pills again-I think to shut out the hurt he felt. and the guilt for he blammed himself. And yes after they separated in 70 he saw other women, she saw other men and hers were mostly in the tabaloids. He never said he didn't cheat on her while marrried, but he said he didn't cheat on her until he learned she had been with her dance teacher. He had a fling and he said, it didn't even feel good and I hated myself the whole time. But he got over that and played the field because why not, it was over. And did he tell me just what he wanted me to know, of course he did. He also told me things that I couldn't believe he would tell, and he did. I found Elvis to be very child like in many ways, if he trusted you, he trusted you totally and if he didn't well, you got the other guy, the macho guy who was a playboy and did whatever he wanted.
What amazes me now is that so many of his firends, the back up singers, his band members and other's who didn't work with him all the time, weren't on salary 24/7 seemed to know him better than the mm guys ever did. They also say the same things about him that I saw in him, and I said them first-I was saying these things in 1977, 78,80 when I was out touring the country doing book spots. I said these things consistently and at that time all that was out there were the same guys saying the same things they are now only they've added stuff that's more outlandish and degrading to Elvis to their stories. People are not stupid, most people want to know the truth and can tell truth from lies...I count on that fact of life, I hope there are lots of people who will question, listen, read and think about things...they are the ones I want to reach, those who want to know the truth and can figure it out for themselves. Elvis was no saint, he was the first to admit it. I wouldn't have wanted him for my husband, I wouldn't have been able to trust him either probably and he wasn't one to make it easy to do. He just expected his wife to believe him and take him at his word. I don't think he lied, I know he flirted, kissed many women, and most wives wouldn't have liked it. Me either. But that was Elvis and Pris knew it when she married him. She also knew what he said and if she chose not to believe that's her thing.
I had the good fortune of meeting Elvis when he was single, full of life and bored stiff with his career. I learned that if he said something, he did it, if he thought a certain way, it was consistent, he never varried right up to the last day of his life, I'd bet on it. He was true blue to his convictions and his belief in people. He thought there was good in everyone, even those "slugs" he had working for him, (my word not his, he would never call them that), and he tried not to hurt people. He got hurt alot but he forgave and went on, he took people back into the fold that should have been kicked of the planet in my opinion, but not Elvis. They were redeemable in his mind because he loved them. His last year he knew he didn't have long, I believe that and I'm not alone on that one. I think he was used, abused and laughed at by so many who were supposed to be caring for him and they were so busy living the high life they didn't notice. They just wanted him to sleep so they could go party...he tried to keep them up there singing so they wouldn't be out partying and drinking etc:. Finally, he couldn't fight them any more and gave up, I guess. But he said he was free of the addictive drugs, he wanted to spend quality time with his little girl while he could and I think the reason he died was that instead of taking the liquid pain medication he was given, he took pain pills and didn't consider that they'd block his colon. His thought was he didn't want to get readdicted to the other pain stuff. He took it for the pain of having 3 commpression fractures in his lower spine caused by the steriod medication given him for his colon problems. And the streneous things he had done on stage for so long and did at the New years eve show. I think he thought it might be the last one he'd ever do-so he made it a good one, the longest show he'd ever done they said. And because his colon was blocked and his kidneys were failing and his heart too, he puffed up and looked terrible on that last tour when they filmed it for tv. He had no butt, no legs, no arms and no fat-just bloated abdomen and puffy face and hands. He was a sick man and anyone with half a brain could see that he should not have been on that stage or that tour. Do I believe what Elvis told me...I darn sure do-he was consistent in what he said, never changed his whole life long and was always putting other people first, even if it meant he had to give up his precious time, his money, and finally his life. It doesn't bother me one iota how many of his mm friends think I am a kook, crazy, a flake, or whatever they might say about me...I personally think they are the dirt under Elvis' feet...and that's really too good for them. So now that's out of my system, and I think your questions were very good, however, I am not going to give any of them one smidgeon of publicity by acknowledging them in any way....not as long as they keep coming up with the crap they keep throwing out as being Elvis' behavior when actually, it is their own and their own fantasy-after all, if they were doing all those things, he must have been doing far more because after all he was Elvis Presley, it was so easy for him. The guy tried his best to find a quiet place to read, talk to someone or just relax everywhere he went...while his guys partied away...Elvis was either talking with someone nice he'd met or reading by himself. Sometimes laying on the bathroom floor or sitting in there to block out the noise so he could read and have some peace and quiet. He often had girls staying with him so he didn't have to have the parties in his suite!!!And would rent rooms so they could have them in Las Vegas! Did he show up, not very darn often. yes, I know he told me what he wanted me to know...and yes I believed him...I still do. I'm sorry if I don't sound very "objective" but I find it hard to agree with so many things that are believed to be true about Elvis when I've heard him cry because he didn't want a divorce, because he failed to notice, to pay attention and he lost her. Cry because he wanted his baby to have both parents and he wanted her to have brothes and sisters and he wanted to have them with Priscilla. He didn't give up hope until 1976-and by then I think he knew he was dying and he just didn't want to make things harder on his family and friends...so he didn't let them know. He would rather be a "drug addict" in their minds than to have them know he was leaving them soon. And like always, he "protected" his family and friends and didn't want to see them watching him go down. He faked it to the end...in that last tv show he stands up there and talks to the camera and people as just Elvis, no hype, no glitz, just the man, and he says, "I faked it for a long time"... he was being honest, he was saying goodbye but no body noticed....wjh

Okay, guys, bring on more questions, I have to be ready to answer just about anything and the harder they are, the better. This will be about the last chance I'll have to try to get what I know and want others to have a chance to know, out to the public. So this time, it's got to be a good run because this old gray mare ain't what she used to be! And No, I will not go on and on as I just did when doing an interview. I have to be more concise and shorter which I will be by editing my responses down to a few sentences-long ones of course. wjh

[Blue Moon]

More interview questions . . .

There's been many made for TV Elvis movies made over the years. Have you had a chance to see any of them and do you think any acurately portray him & his life?

Has anyone in Elvis' family or inner circle endorsed your book?

How do we know the taped conversations you have written down in your book are genuine?

How is that many in Elvis' inner circle have never heard of you? Is there any among them who can verify you were Elvis' friend? If not, why do you suppose Elvis kept your friendship so secret?

[Lighthouseseeker]

I will thank you again Wanda for you gave your time and very clearly told this all, one more time..it's a pity, generally this world couldn't come to a level, to accept Elvis and the spiritual maturity he reached very early in his life without losing the innocent child inside..it was something unbelievable for a human being..we, who loved and believed him,never expected Elvis to be a saint or never cared anything like that, we were more happy a human being could have reached such an honourable level and that's why he is unique in our hearts and eyes...I think they were the ones ,his enemies, who thought only a saint could be that good and being so, was something impossible for them, cause they were incurably sick spirits..I never had a wish of making a perfect fiction hero for myself to love..the reality itself even better than such a hero..Elvis raised among us..and I can only proud of this and who he really was..