Seeking New End to Story of Castaneda

Plus, dueling Tommy burgers . . . Last bites and last rites . . . Seer sues tabloid.

A Georgia man who says he is the only son of Carlos Castaneda is contesting the reclusive writer’s will, alleging in court papers that it was drafted by the executor and that the signature is a forgery.

“It’s just madness,” responded the executor, Los Angeles entertainment attorney Deborah Drooz. She denied doing anything improper and said Adrian Vashon is not the writer’s son.

Vashon, a.k.a. Carlton J. Castaneda, charges that in the final days of his life, the author was “surrounded by a group of individuals who, in essence, built a wall” around him. Vashon says those people controlled who could speak with or see the elder Castaneda.

Vashon also says the writer was not in his right mind and may have signed the will under duress. He is asking a Superior Court judge to deny Drooz’s appointment as executor of the $1-million-plus estate and to appoint him instead. A hearing is set for Oct. 15.

“All you have to do is look at him” to determine that Vashon is not Castaneda’s son, Drooz said. The mystic writer, she said, was small and wiry. Vashon, on the other hand, is tall and ample-bodied.

Castaneda wrote the best-seller “The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge,” the tale of his peyote-laced adventures with an Indian shaman. The author died of liver cancer April 27 at his home in Westwood. The will leaves nothing to Vashon or his mother, Margaret Runyan Castaneda, the writer’s former wife.

“Although I once treated him as if he were my son, Adrian Vashon, also known as C.J. Castaneda, is not my son,” the will states.

Runyan Castaneda’s 1996 book, “A Magical Journey With Carlos Castaneda,” identifies Vashon’s birth father as Adrian Gerritsen, a man with whom the book says she had an affair while married to Castaneda.

BEEFY BEEF: The next time you bite into a Tommy burger, you might wonder whether it’s a Tommy’s Original or an Original Tommy’s. According to a lawsuit filed by relatives of the late Tom Koulax--the original Tommy--there’s a world of difference.

The Tommy’s Original World Famous Hamburger is the real deal, and the Original World Famous Tommy’s Hamburger is actually a knockoff of the 50-year-old Los Angeles fast food institution, according to a 23-page suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Tomdan Enterprises Inc. of Glendale says former employee Sam Alevizas stole trade secrets during the 1970s while flipping Tommy burgers and now has set up his own chain of competing burger joints. Tomdan, which is run by Koulax family members, says it has held the registered trademark to its burgers and logo since 1978. Along with an affiliate, it owns 20 restaurants across Southern California, including the hugely popular original hamburger stand at Beverly and Rampart boulevards west of downtown.

Tomdan charges that Alevizas and his partner, Andrew Sakellarious, have deliberately created public confusion between the real Tommy burgers and their product by copying the logo and using similar ingredients and distributors. Alevizas and Sakellarious could not be reached for comment.

Tomdan is seeking a court order shutting down the rival Tommy’s restaurants, as well as damages and an accounting.

It’s not the first time these folks have faced each other across a courtroom, according to Tomdan attorney Stephen A. Lenske. In 1990, Tomdan won a permanent injunction against the alleged copycats, who were forced to shut down their burger stands.

LAST BITES: Speaking of munchies, let us consider the last meals of the five men who have been executed since California reinstated the death penalty:

Robert Alton Harris, infamous for gobbling down his victim’s hamburger, chowed on Kentucky Fried Chicken (extra crispy), Domino’s pizza (hold the anchovies), jellybeans and Pepsi.

Keith Williams dined on fried pork chops, a baked potato with butter, asparagus, salad with blue cheese dressing, apple pie a la mode and whole milk.

William Bonin pigged out on two large pepperoni and sausage pizzas, three pints of coffee ice cream and three six-packs of Coca-Cola.

Thomas Thompson was a death row gourmand, choosing Alaskan king crab legs with melted butter, spinach salad, pork fried rice, Mandarin-style spareribs, a hot fudge sundae and a six-pack of Coke.

David Mason sipped ice water.

PSYCHIC ‘FRIEND’: Courtney Cox’s Beverly Hills psychic claims her advice to clients about their love lives is none of our business, and is suing a supermarket tabloid for publishing pictures of a June session with the “Friends” star.

Shooshan George says a Globe employee followed her to a photo developer and bribed a clerk to make a duplicate of her negatives. The psychic is seeking a public apology, possession of the duplicate negatives and punitive damages in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

A Globe article reported that George advises Cox on almost every aspect of her life. It also quotes George as saying during the June session that Cox’s co-star in the “Scream” movies, David Arquette, is a perfect match for the actress.

George, whose clients are said to include Cher and LaToya Jackson, says she never gives interviews and refuses to divulge personal details about clients. She claims the Globe has “fraudulently and surreptitiously” gained access to her practice.

QUOTABLE: “I’m talking about her rear end, your honor.”

--Celebrity sleuth Anthony Pellicano, describing a photograph he destroyed of actress Farrah Fawcett’s injured “lower, lower back.” Pellicano appeared as a witness at the misdemeanor battery trial of Fawcett’s onetime significant other, producer James Orr. The trial in Santa Monica has featured tales of the ex-couple’s duels with baseball bats and bar stools.