It's kind of mysterious in the book too that he left the money to the preacher's son (I think). I've seen some discussion on the subject. As I recall (vaguely), there was some incident where the preacher's son was embarrassed, and possibly Sam left him the money to compensate for it. (He was that kind of man). Or perhaps he was the real father of the preacher's son. I'll have to look at the book again and see if there was anything more concrete.
They're showing The Last Picture Show on the big screen here on March 17 -- can't wait! ;)
Meanwhile... Ben's autograph on a first day cover of the first-class stamp issued in honor of the John Ford film Stagecoach. Day of issue was March 23, 1990. Unfortunately the scan doesn't show how pretty the envelope really is. "Stagecoach" is in raised gold foil, and the dark teal blue colored decorations (including the horse and rider on the right) are also in raised foil.