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Free speech champion, and business mogul, Larry Flynt has died at the age of 78-years-old.

Flynt was involved in multiple free speech lawsuits throughout his career, including winning a 1988 Supreme Court case. His fight for free speech in America was so compelling, it was turned into a 1996 biographical film called The People vs. Larry Flynt, where Flynt was played by Emmy Award winner Woody Harrelson.

Before his business career, Flynt was enlisted in the United States Navy, where he was a radar operator. As legend goes, he was the radar operator on duty aboard the USS Enterprise when the ship was sent to recover John Glenn's space capsule. He was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1964.

When Flynt returned from the Navy, he purchased his mother's bar in Dayton, OH and was able to turn it into a group of bar under his ownership. Eventually he opened his first Hustler Club bar in 1968, which was a "go-go" bar featuring semi-nude female hostesses. That idea eventually morphed into his Hustler enterprise, which led to Flynt leaving the bar ownership business in the 1970s. Decades later the Hustler Club concept was resurrected, which even included a location in Shreveport.

Flynt became well known for his business enterprise, legal cases, but one of his most notable moments came in the world of politics. Flynt described himself as a Civil Libertarian, even though he launched a Presidential bid as a Republican. He also ran for Governor of California in 2003.

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