He hung this on the wall next to The Wages of Sin, a pedestal table dripping with candles in rainbow hues, as though audiences were standing before a holy shrine at mass, a nod to his Catholic upbringing.
Gore's favorite was her description of an elegant family dinner table in Mississippi with much lace and candles and crystal and the elderly matriarch -- bedecked in rich brocade and a jeweled tiara -- making her way unsteadily to the table after a touch or two of bourbon and Seconal upstairs.