...without Paul Newman in the world. Damn. Another of the Really Good Guys gone. Even a week after his passing it seems everyone has a special Paul Newman moment or story to share - for the good of all of us. Frank Deford on Morning Edition the other day had me in tears with his tribute. Gwen Ifill replayed a spot he'd done in support of Washington Week at the end of Friday's show. There's no separate vid of that, but there's a podcast of the entire show at their site.
A good friend of mine went to school with one of his daughters - Stephanie, I think, given my friend's age - and knew the family a little. She had a funny story about nearly running him down on a cross country ski run. By accident, of course. She said Joanne Woodward was amazing and really nice. I think I'd just take that for granted.
I never met the man myself, despite the fact of his having spent quite a lot of time in Portland out at PIR (Portland International Raceway) over the years. You'd hear stories around town about him popping up in random Portland locations when he was here with the races. And what a nice guy he was.
I suppose the first film I noticed him in must have been The Sting. I was 13 when that came out. I remember asking my mom to buy us some Coors beer (Newman's drink at that time) which she did. I didn't like it. I think I rinsed my hair with it - one of those '70's beauty myths. (& it's not that my mom encouraged underage drinking. We grew up with a healthy attitude towards alcohol because it wasn't a mystery and wasn't banned completely.)
The best thing? That was when I found out that I shared a birthday with Paul Newman. Yeah, he was already 35 when I was born, but every year since 13 I've wished him a Happy Birthday on our special day. Not in writing. Just a wish sent out.
Next January 26th is going to be a bit lonely.
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