Paul Newman

The world is going crazy, gloom is everywhere, and on top of all that, Paul Newman died.
It's enough to make a sane person cry, but when I went back into my files-- I'd interviewed Newman long ago, though he didn't much like the press-- I started laughing. He was a funny man who didn't give himself airs, and he said what he thought. Here are a few of the things he thought, both amusing, and serious.
1. "I had the doubtful honor of being in 'The Silver Chalice.' It was the worst movie made in the 60's. It's a wonder I even survived it. It was a disaster from beginning to end. Here I was in this curly hair and a very short cocktail dress."
2. "You build up a lot of muscles playing trombone. Then you stop playing trombone and your whole face falls. As long as you keep on playing, it's great."
3. "The studio puts out that I drink 24 bottles of beer a day. I only drink 22."
4. "I believe in sauna, sit-ups in the morning, pushups etc. It's marvelous to discover at the age of 41 that you love to run. I thought I was a natural athlete, but I was a terrible football player, and I couldn't handle tennis all that well. There are readjustments you have to make in mid life. I'm convinced I'm only about 23. It's my friends who are a lot older."
5. "Because I have six kids, I worry about a military out of control, technology out of control, the pace of our lives. Can we reverse apathetic indifference to our own future in this country? The pollution, the non-responsiveness of the government to people? There are a lot of people I consider my personal enemies. i get up in the morning, take binoculars out of my pajama pockets and scan the horizon for enemies. It's necessary to thrash away like terriers at the bad things surrounding us, and do something about it."
And here is one more bit from a man who was nominated four times for an Academy Award, but never won one.
6. "You know what I'd like t do? I'd like to win about 69 nominations-- I think that's an interesting number-- and at the age of 90, crawl on my hands and knees, ridden with arthritis, to pick up on Oscar. That would be kind of stylish."
He didn't make it to 90, but he was always stylish, and he leaves a big hole in the universe.