On the sad news that Ann Nicole Smith had died in Florida, I naturally reflected on Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. Anna Nicole recently lost a son and gave birth to a baby. Her death will continue to generate a frenzy because there is money involved. The father of her child will be first in line with a blood sample to be checked against the DNA of the baby, the obvious inheritor of Smith’s wealth. That wealth could be humongous after the courts decide on what she should inherit from her aged husband. The first thing I said to my wife was that Anna Nicole’s death would probably be interpreted as murder. I don’t really think that she was murdered but if she was found dead like Marilyn Monroe, someone is going to start the murder myth. I hope I haven’t started it here right now. Tomorrow the autopsy will be held and eventually the results will be revealed to the public. By then the murder theorist will have a well developed scenario and they will use the autopsy to reinforce it. The motive will be murder, of course. I wrote an article on Marilyn Monroe and showed how theorist develop what I called “obvious truths.” UFO-ologist use that tactic all the time. The media loves stupid thinking and will join on the bandwagon. A good story can make you a good deal of money on the lecture tour and by authoring books. Anna Nicole seemed to have little talent other than gaining publicity. Like many nobodies with great bodies she started as a Playboy Bunny®. Hugh Hefner said he hoped that she was now happy with her brother. I didn’t know that Hugh actually believed in anything of a religious nature but I guess he does. Marilyn Monroe on the other hand had acting talent. Jayne Mansfield, who died in a horrible automobile crash, was probably in between the two talent-wise. A good summary of Anna Nicole’s life can be found at hollywood.com/news/3654096 It saddens me to see young lives cut short. The media attention to a famous person can cause disaster. They thrive on the media but the media and money drives them to drink and drugs. James Dean’s death at age twenty-four is a good example where money put him in fast cars and reckless behavior. Dean was a talented actor and is still missed by his fans. Read about the car accident at history1900s.about.com/od/1950s/qt/deandies.htm It seems that the celebrity life goes double time. Jayne Mansfield died racing to get to New Orleans in the wee hours of the morning. Her three children survived. Read about the death of Jayne and a number of other celebrities that died in auto accidents at who2.com/deathbycarcrash.html including Princess Grace (who may have suffered a small stroke ) and Princess Diana. I hope that Jayne’s death will be a warning to other celebrities with more money and than they can spend and more fame than they can tolerate. That includes athletes who are not use to celebrity status or money. The call to fame can be very rapid in our media circus. Many celebrities we old folks don’t even know other than we see them on television walking down a red carpet dressed to the “Tee.” We don’t know why they are celebrities but they are in some obscure soap opera or such where we never see themâ€"but they have money. Here is some advice for celebrities that were not born rich and don’t know how to handle money and fame: Stay away from drugs and avoid excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages. Prescription drugs can destroy you. Don’t go to multiple doctors for prescription drugs. Some over-the-counter drugs are not safe. Don’t drive and drink. Avoid high speed and reckless driving and stay out of cars having such a driver. Wear your seat belt. Learn how to manage your money and don’t trust others with your money to the extent that gives them control. New friends and experts can hurt you. Trust the banker in your home town if you know one well. Let him lead you to proper asset management. Don’t over do it. You have to have some time off from work. Drug usage is often because of overwork. Why am I writing this? Celebrities don’t read my stuff. Well, the rules are good for everyone. Rest in Peace, Anna Nicole. The End John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com, a retired VP of RandD for Lenox China, is author of detective and western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry Magazine. He is Executive Representative of IWS sellers of Tyler Hicks wealth-success books and kits. He also sells TopFlight flagpoles. He calls himself Taylor Jones, the hack writer. More info: tjbooks.com Business web site: tjbooks.com .