NEW YORK (AP) Until the end, William S. Burroughs shuddered at the thought
of a world without drugs and railed against the politicians trying to ban
them.

The latest issue of The New Yorker, which hits newsstands today, contains
excerpts from journals kept by the Beat Generation author and former heroin
addict in which he criticizes Newt Gingrich and other politicians he blamed
for trying to make American life ``banal.''

``That vile salamander Gingrich, squeaker of the House, is slobbering about a
drugfree America by the year 2001,'' Burroughs wrote about two months before
his Aug. 2 death at age 83.

``What a dreary prospect! ... No dope fiends, just good, cleanliving decent
Americans from sea to shining sea,'' he wrote on May 31. ``How I hate those
who are dedicated to producing conformity.''

The author of ``Naked Lunch'' also praised Beat poet Allen Ginsberg for
struggling against censorship to challenge the mores of American society.

``Allen made holes in the Big Lie not only with his poetry but with his
presence, his selfevident spiritual truth,'' he wrote on May 25.

Ginsberg's death April 5 caused him to think about the end of his own
life.

``I thought I would be terrified, but I am exhilarated,'' Burroughs recalled
his friend saying.

The day before Burroughs died, he wrote his last entry, which was printed on
cards and distributed among the 250 mourners at his funeral in Lawrence, Kan.

``Love? What is it? Most natural painkiller. What there is. LOVE.''