God's Own Shock Jock.

Dr. Gene Scott
Aug. 14, 1929 - Feb. 21, 2005

I was probably in my early-mid 20s when I experienced this, so it had to be the early 1990s, late at night, on some cable channel that probably doesn't even exist anymore. There was this old guy sitting in a chair, screaming at viewers to send him money. Then suddenly there would be videotape of some horses. And this videotape would go on and on, and the old guy would come on again and scream some more. Then the horses again. And it seemed to go on for hours.

This was Dr. Gene Scott, who died from a stroke three years ago today.

It's amazing to watch someone who is the best at what they do. It doesn't even matter what they're doing...it's just incredible to watch them work. This was the thing about Gene Scott. Some called him a con artist, but if he was, he was a very good con artist, and that makes all the difference.

When he wasn't ranting about Atlantis, government conspiracies, or UFOs, Gene Scott was preaching the Bible, often from the original Greek texts. He would sit and take apart every symbol, every sentence, every paragraph, everything. He knew it back and forth, and would use chalkboards and dry eraser boards to make his points.

He was married three times, the last time to Melissa Pastore, previously known as porn actress and producer Barbie Bridges. She studied with Scott for years and upon his death took over his church and currently appears on TV doing lectures in front of dry eraser boards. She does as he did, translating the Bible in fifty different ways that would have made him proud. Turns out she's a natural at this. Go figure.

You can still see and hear Gene Scott's message on the internet. Thousands of hours of his teachings and rantings are still out there, so it's like he never really left us. It's reassuring...because in the age of videotape, the internet, and YouTube, nothing is truly lost any more. And this is important, because future generations need Dr. Gene Scott...just as they need living legends such as Ron Jeremy, Jerry Springer, and Larry King. American masters, each and every one.

Because, as I said, and as Gene Scott's life proved...it's not so much what you do, as long as you do it well.