PHOTO EXTRA : PORTRAIT OF GORE....

SACHA NEWLEYS PORTRAIT OF GORE

GORE IN 1948

One of Joan's longtime friends, the ininimitable literary figure Gore Vidal has died..  a good friend of Joan's for many years, he once described Joan as the only celebrity he had ever met with a sense of humour. Joan recalled staying with Gore and his late partner Howard Austen back in 1969, the day man landed on the moon... Gore shared a home outside Naples with Howard, his partner of 55 years until he died of a brain cancer in 2003.. A writer of 25 novels, 2 memoirs and a former MGM contract writer, as well as a prolific writer for tv and films and the stage. Gore recalled his partner said on his deathbed.. 'Didn't it go by awfully fast!'.. Gore Vidal will certainly be remembered.. He died at his Hollywood Hills home with Pneumonia complications at the age of 86...

GORE IN 2006