Offbeat

I thought it would be fun to share some interesting news stories from around the nation. Enjoy.

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Alan Gagne, 54, was a diligent public worker. Everyday for 20 years, he delivered mail in a picturesque Boston neighborhood, often mumbling to himself about this or that, but never missing a chance to prove that he was one of the best postmen that city had ever seen.

Imagine the surprise of people along his route, and the City of Boston, when, after Gagne’s death recently, officials found thousands of pieces of mail neatly tucked away in a closet inside his cramped apartment.

Some of the mail dates from the 1980’s, according to a "New York Times" article yesterday, which quotes Robert Cannon, a spokesman for the postal service. Cannon said that 90 percent of the stolen mail was circulars flagged as undeliverable because of an address change.

But there were also dozens of unopened letters that the postal service is trying hard to get back to their rightful recipients. Cannon told the Times that he couldn’t understand why Gagne kept the mail, and probably never would.

“There appeared to be no rhyme or reason as to how, when, or where he took the mail or why he was holding onto it,” Cannon told the Times. It’s tragic, unfortunate and bizarre.”

Bizarre indeed.

What would drive Gagne, a single man with no family to speak of, to keep unopened letters and circulars in his home for decades? What purpose could they have served for him? Had he opened the letters and read their private contents, one might say that Gagne’s loneliness drove him to read someone else’s mail.

Perhaps he was an undiagnosed kleptomaniac, or maybe he just felt so attached to some pieces of mail that he couldn’t bear to part with them. No one will ever know.

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If there is a special place in heaven for those who do good on Earth, then Eugenia Dodson of Coral Gables, Fla., is surely there right now. The 100-year-old amassed a multi-million dollar fortune during her lifetime, but she lived the lifestyle of a regular, average citizen.

After her death, it was discovered that she wished to donate her entire fortune — $35.6 million — to both the University of Miami’s Diabetes Research Institute and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, also at Miami University.

It turns out that Dodson had cancer, and her brother died from complications with diabetes. Both issues were near to her heart, and with the money, she hoped that the diseases could be brought to an end.

Dodson proved that being rich doesn’t mean one has to flaunt it, buying thousands of dollars in jewelry and unnecessary automobiles and fur coats. The world definitely needs more people like her.

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The stupid moment of the year definitely belongs to Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn, who literally rubbed elbows with Pablo Picasso recently.

After deciding to sell his original of Picasso’s Le Reve (The Dream) painting at an ultra-exclusive art auction, Wynn accidentally destroyed part of it as he was showing the work off one last time before it sold.

Wynn said that he backed his elbow into the painting in front of a group of friends, forging a finger-sized hole in the priceless art piece. It was a disaster indeed.

But luckily for Wynn, who has decided to keep the painting, a New York art restoration group has confirmed that they can restore the painting to it’s original luster.

Maybe Wynn needs to invest in a set of elbow pads.