W. C. Fields : his follies and fortunes (1949)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX F JLlEL .ields' home life was colorful and robust. He enjoyed his household, even when he thought the members were after him. For a man who was basically anti-social, he had many recreations. High on his list was picnics. He was at his sharpest when organizing an outdoor jaunt. On these occasions all his caution about money vanished; everything he did was in the richest tradition of Diamond Jim Brady. Miss Michael recalls one idea the comedian had for a trip northward up the coast. It was a fine, blue morning, and he had, for a change, slept soundly. He came downstairs early, drank two double martinis on the terrace, then lit into an unusually large beaker of pineapple juice. "Let's have a picnic," he said to Miss Michael, Garlotta Monti, and her sister, Susie, who had stayed overnight. "I'll tell the chauffeur to tune up the big Lincoln." He began to bustle around giving orders and urging everybody to hurry. "He had to do everything right now/3 Miss Michael says. "Once he had an idea, he couldn't put it off for a second. Even if he'd decided to buy some bud vases, he had to get in the car and go right after them." Within a few minutes he had his colored cook, Dell, laying out big wicker picnic hampers, making sandwiches, hard-boiling eggs, and stuffing celery with Roquefort 282