# 30: The Scarlet Linkletter
24 Points (On 1 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#2 by Merry Wanna )
The Story:Hey, where'd you get that scar on your arm?
Really? You leapt from your roof because you thought you could fly and then were whisked away to help Santa free his sleigh from a Miami Beach?
Er.... yeah.
Well, that reminds me of something I heard once. See, back in the 60s people started using LSD and, well, a lot of them didn't react too well to it. Well, okay, that one pitcher tossed a no hitter while using it, but he's the exception. Other users stared at the sun until they burned out their retinas. But this one teenager... Well, she took LSD and then thought she could fly. So she leapt out of her 6th story window.
Yeah, it didn't end with a trip to Santa.
thing is, we probably never would have heard about it if it weren't for the girl's name- Diane Linkletter. He dad was Art Linkletter. He spent the rest of his life warning others about the dangers of LSD use.
...a bunny in a fire truck? Er, yeah. I'm guessing you never heard the guy speak, huh?
Well, Is It True?Probably not.
Diane Linkletter did commit suicide by unexpectedly leaping to her death one morning. That's true. And Art Linkletter did speak throughout the rest of his life about the dangers of LSD use. But there's no real evidence as to whether the suicide came from drug use or just severe depression, which several of Diane's associates report that she was suffering from. Diane allegedly called her brother and told him that she was suffering from a bad LSD trip, which he then relayed to his father. But Diane also called another friend of hers who was in her apartment from roughly 3 in the morning until the time of her death and that witness reported no unusual activity from her right up until when she jumped out the window. And since at the time, suicide from depression was seen as more scandalous than death by drug use, it's possible that Robert simply related a story that would lessen the impact of his sister's death on his father.
In any case, while suddenly jumping from a window is quite unusual, there's no evidence that Linkletter's death came from drug use.
Random Notes Art Linkletter had 5 children. He unfortunately outlived 3 of them.
In 1970, John Waters made a short film called "The Diane Linkletter story" which expanded on the urban legendy version of the story. Divine played Diane, which may have been a not terribly accurate casting choice.
Up Next Okay, now we're just taunting Cole, aren't we?