This was taken at Hugh and Paula's house in November 2019.
I was greatly saddened to hear that Hugh Aynesworth passed away last night at the age of 92.
Hugh was very supportive of my work and I greatly appreciated his guidance and his many stories about the JFK assassination, Jack Ruby, Jim Garrison, and just about anything of relevance. He was a witness to just about every major story -- from the assassination, to the arrest of Oswald, to the Ruby funeral, and he was there to interview Jim Garrison at the start of his deeply flawed investigation (see below).
In 1969, Hugh wrote an excellent five-part series on the Jim Garrison affair:
Hugh turned 92 on August 2nd and Paula sent me a text asking me to send Hugh a card with a greeting. She wanted 92 cards to arrive to celebrate his birthday. Of course, I was only too happy to send a card.
I used several of Hugh's stories in my books, but one that sticks out is this one from my book, I was a Teenage JFK Conspiracy Freak: (page 79 - 80 of the Kindle edition)
At this point, Garrison started to think that the Kennedy assassination was some sort of homosexual plot. He met journalist Hugh Aynesworth at his home in January, 1967, and told him a remarkable story:
“Hugh,” he said at last, “you’re lucky you’re in town today. We’ve just verified this guy, and believe me it’s dynamite.” Explaining no more for the moment, Garrison then called one of his assistant DAs, ex-boxer Andrew Sciambra, known as Moo, who arrived a short while later with this slight little guy from Houston, a piano player, who proceeded to tell us how he knew that Ruby and Oswald were longtime gay lovers.
He went into great detail, naming clubs in Dallas and Houston where he said he had been performing when Ruby and Oswald dropped by. He even described one occasion when the owners of a Houston club had booted out the two of them “because,” he said, “they had been groping each other all evening long.”
“You might be the most important witness we’ve run across yet,” he told the piano player. “And you are certain they were with each other on several occasions?”
The little man vigorously nodded yes, clearly pleased that Garrison was buying his story.
I was delighted when Hugh sent me a blurb for that book. Unfortunately, it didn't make it time for the back cover, but here it is:
“Mr. Litwin’s book is the best in many, many years in dealing with the truth about this horrendous piece of history…and exposing the fakirs, cons and opportunists who often call themselves ‘historians.’ A fine presentation!”
-Hugh Aynesworth, Author of November 22, 1963: Witness to History and JFK: Breaking the News
If you have a chance, pick up one of Hugh's books on covering the JFK assassination:
‘Witness’ can be read at https://archive.org/details/november221963wi0000ayne.
Amazon link for ‘Witness’: https://www.amazon.com/November-22-1963-Witness-History/dp/1612541275/
According to his Amazon page, his only other JFK book is from 2003:
And Hugh didn't just cover the JFK assassination. He worked on many important stories including breaking the Henry Lee Lucas case, which was turned into a Netflix mini-series. He also had a series of conversations with serial murderer Ted Bundy.
My deepest condolences to Hugh's wife Paula who was incredibly supportive. When I visited Hugh at their house I could always see the love and warmth between them.
R. I . P., Hugh. I will miss you.
Other Relevant Blog Posts on Hugh Aynesworth
Hugh Aynesworth debunks William Walters.
A terrific cover of Westward with a story by Hugh Aynesworth
Hugh Aynesworth saw Jack Ruby at the offices of the Dallas Morning News on the morning of November 22, 1963.
Garrison thought Shaw was a weak man. He was wrong.