A VIEW CLASSIC...I LIKED IT, ANYWAY WELL, THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN has officially fallen off the wagon and the mountain too. He passed away last night, the cause of death being he fought the law of gravity and the law won. It is believed that a contributing factor was the old man’s ongoing love of hard cider. No word on who it is or why it should have an opinion at all in this case. Investigators with the New Hampshire Highway Patrol commented unofficially today that they believed the old man was probably intoxicated last night and fell off the side of the mountain in a drunken stupor as he was returning home from a town meeting. Thousands of his fellow Granite Staters will mourn the popular old man, who was known for his homespun New England folk wisdom and his sharp opinions on the presidential candidates that come every leap year to New Hampshire. He once compared the candidates to a horde of locusts, but without the locusts' charm, wit, and savoir faire. In his later years he softened on the subject, allowing that the quadrennial hordes of officeseekers were a good way of remembering that the Olympics would be on the television soon. The Old Man of the Mountain is survived by his wife, Anna Purna, three sons, and several grand and great grandchildren. Callers are requested to send donations to the Sierra Club in a loo of flowers. Funeral arrangements by Slate Gravel, Inc.