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Another Fortune. Nonetheless, Parr's well-greased machine got out the vote as before. Duval County went for Kennedy and Johnson by a 12 to 1 margin in 1960, and John Connally, vying for the gubernatorial nomination two years later, swept the county 14 to 1. Things began to look up for the boss: the U.S. Supreme Court threw out his school-funds conviction, and the Government dropped a tax-evasion case it had been preparing. Quietly he built another fortune. No one knows just how, but Parr's long-standing network of friends surely helped out.
Yet in recent years Parr had become something of a relic. Old friends gradually began to turn their backs. A hint of bitterness would creep into Parr's piercing blue eyes as he saw his power slipping away.
Last year the Government went after him once again. He was found guilty of failing to report $287,000 in income and sentenced to five years in prison. "I'm not afraid," he remarked. "I just hope they don't have any bedbugs." Two weeks ago, a federal district court denied his appeal; when it was learned that he had been seen toting a gun, a hearing was scheduled to consider revoking his bond. But George Parr, a persistent piece of Western folklore to the end, decided not to go to the hearing—and picked up his pistol instead.