Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts

Friday, October 16, 2009

Entry for May 29, 2009


Little late on the updates here but ... better late than never!

Reprinted from "Look to the Stars" (a celebrity giving site)

The town of Westport, Connecticut, is to honor the late Paul Newman by creating a 37-acre nature reserve adjacent to his former home.

The new Newman/Poses Preserve will include walking paths, benches, and a ban on development and building. The idea came from Newman’s widow, Joanne Woodward, who wrote to the local council in January.

“The Poses land is a truly beautiful piece of land that Paul, our children, and I have had the privilege of enjoying for many, many years,” she said. “Preserving the Poses property in its natural state is something I very much believe Paul would have loved to see happen. Paul always expressed regret that he was not able to accomplish this himself, so I think if there were to be anything at all done by the town to honor Paul’s memory this would be a very generous and appropriate tribute to him. He would, I believe, be particularly pleased that such a gesture would benefit all of Westport’s residents.”

Westport is not the only group of people honoring the late actor. Julia Roberts and Robert Redford will host a special evening to raise funds for Newman’s Hole In The Wall Camps in New York on June 8.

Entertainment will be provided by Jerry Seinfeld, James Taylor, Harry Connick Jr., Yo Yo Ma, Art Garfunkel and Joshua Bell, and the event will feature a cocktail reception and after party.

Tickets range from $50 to $5,000. The event will take place at the Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Center. More information can be found here
2009-05-30 00:28:08 GMT

"Walk In the Woods" a Go


Redford has announced that he's going ahead with a film adaptation of Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" (2011) which was originally discussed as a vehicle for him and Newman (though still difficult to see either one of them fitting into the 40ish lead characters shoes...) Stay tuned for production details.
2009-05-25 22:09:44 GMT
 

Entry for May 4, 2009


It’s been quiet out there for a few months regarding PLN—have got maybe 2 or 3 Google alerts in the last month or so, until this weekend when I guess the advance copies of a few biographies are making the rounds. “Paul Newman: A Life” by Shawn Levy is the first one to hit stores and by accounts, it’s not very critical of our man Paul. He doesn’t shy away from the generally accepted fact that Paul was an alcoholic and his feelings of failure regarding his first marriage dissolution and his son’s death. Levy never met Newman and didn’t even interview any of his friends for this book, so it comes off as just a compilation of all the other books about him. He does include reference to Paul’s alleged affair with a reporter he met on the set of Butch Cassidy, but Levy did not even speak to her, relying only on her own articles to shoot herself in the foot.

There are also 3 other Newman biographies coming soon:

• "Paul Newman, Updated: A Life," is an updated version of Lawrence Quirk's 1996 book. The updated version, claims to be "deeply probing and, at times, painfully truthful."

• "Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman" is written by Matt Stone and Preston Lerner with foreword by Mario Andretti will focus solely on Newman’s passion for car racing.

• And last, and what surely will be the least of the bunch: “Paul Newman: The Man Behind the Baby Blues: His Secret Life Exposed" which is promising more scandal than an episode of Dynasty.



My thoughts? PLN wasn’t a saint. He was a man that had his own share of problems just like everyone else. Whether or not he cheated on his wife should be of no one’s concern not now or ever. He lived his life selflessly to help others and to try and destroy his character now is just unspeakable.


2009-05-04 22:12:02 GMT

Entry for February 28, 2009


Happy 79th Birthday to Joanne! We all wish her the best during this year.
2009-02-28 19:40:09 GMT

Entry for February 25, 2009


House passes resolution to honor actor Paul Newman


6 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Paul Newman, the late actor and 10-time Academy Award nominee, has been honored by lawmakers as a screen legend and humanitarian.

Newman died Sept. 26, 2008, at age 83 after a long battle with cancer. The House on Tuesday night approved a resolution recognizing Newman's achievements on and off screen.

The resolution said Newman's "humanitarian works and incomparable talents have made him an American icon who will never be forgotten."

The Hollywood star won one Oscar and took home two honorary ones, and had major roles in more than 50 motion pictures, including "Cool Hand Luke," "Exodus," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Verdict," "The Sting" and "Absence of Malice."

Newman and his popular food company, Newman's Own, have given more than $250 million to charity over the years. He also helped to start "Hole in the Wall" camps across the world for children with life-threatening illnesses.

The resolution is H.R.18.
2009-02-25 23:15:02 GMT

Entry for January 26, 2009



Today would have been Paul's 84th birthday. Lots of love from the Screen Actor's Guild Awards last night, with James Earl Jones using the final moments of his speech for his Life Achievement Award to salute Paul with a twist on the PLN's early role in Somebody Up There Likes Me: "Paul Newman, somebody down here likes you." (Bit of trivia, Paul and Joanne were honored with the same award in 1985 and while Jones and Newman never acted together on screen, [still researching stage roles...] they did both appear in a documentary to Martin Luther King in 1970.)






Paul also was the final celebrity in the yearly "In Memorium" segment, with brief clips of him in Cool Hand Luke and Road to Perdition, among others.
2009-01-26 23:01:03 GMT

Entry for January 16, 2009


photo
Still doing a little sort through the old email clean up, and found this kinda cool link that allows you to download (for free!) the November issue of Inside Pool Magazine. I mean, I admit that I'm not an avid reader of billiard publications, but they dedicated their full issue to Paul's passing.



Couple neat notes in the story: they credit The Color of Money of giving the billiards industry a "well-needed shot in the arm" and mention that in 1987 Paul was awarded the Billiard and Bowling Industry of America's industry service award. (I don't know why but I feel like PLN would have some extra pride over this honor.)





2009-01-16 19:47:41 GMT

Entry for January 14, 2009


This from BrandWeek (okay, it's about 4 months old now...) announcing that Newman's Own will be testing it's pizza line in several markets (darn it! I just left New England and neglected to check it out!) But others located in these markets can use the NO product locator to find it in their area. Great, now I'm salivating.



Newman's Own has expanded its lineup of organic foods with the launch of four all-natural family-size pizzas in test markets.



The company is currently testing Thin and Crispy frozen pizza in five markets including the New England states, Albany, N.Y., Milwaukee, Wis., Minneapolis, Minn., and Charlotte, N.C. The product is being positioned as a low-calorie pizza that is half the cost of a delivery version. It is priced from $6.49 to $6.99.



Newman's Own, which was co-founded by recently deceased actor Paul Newman, said its goal is to offer consumers a full line of all-natural meal options. (It already offers organic lemonade, pasta sauce and salsa.) The pizza comes in four flavors: Supreme, Four Cheese, Roasted Garlic and Chicken and Uncured Pepperoni.



By adding pizza to its offerings, Newman's Own enters a category traditionally dominated by household favorites like Schwan's Freschetta and Kraft's DiGiorno. Like its competitors, Newman's Own hopes to bridge the gap between frozen and all natural, high-quality foods.



Darren Tristano, evp at Chicago-based market research firm Technomic, said the challenge for pizza marketers like Newman's Own is in proving that a frozen product is both "all natural" and "better for you."



"[But] the quality of frozen pizza has improved dramatically over the past five years," said Tristano, adding that younger generations are most likely the ones to embrace the "organic positioning and social consciousness."



Keeping up with its tradition, Newman's Own said it would donate after-tax net profits from pizza sales to charitable organizations.



"With Paul Newman's recent passing, his name may become less relevant to consumers, so the brand will need to build around what the company stands for and its charitable efforts. This will be a key to their success," Tristano said.


2009-01-14 19:55:47 GMT

Entry for January 12, 2009


There's been so much written about Paul these past few months, it's hard to find all the new nuggets of information. But while I continue to sort through it all, Noel Jameson in Boone, NC compiled this list of PLN quotes that capture both Paul's wisdom and his winking sense of humor. #12 sums it up very nicely.





1. “If you're playing a poker game and you look around the table and can't tell who the sucker is, it's you.”



2. "I don't like to discuss my marriage, but I will tell you something which may sound corny but which happens to be true. I have steak at home. Why should I go out for hamburger?"



3. “People stay married because they want to, not because the doors are locked.”



4. “You can't be as old as I am without waking up with a surprised look on your face every morning: 'Holy Christ, whaddya know - I'm still around!' It's absolutely amazing that I survived all the booze and smoking and the cars and the career.”



5. “If you don't have enemies, you don't have character.”



6. “Show me a good loser, and I will show you a loser.”



7. “Newman's first law: It is useless to put on your brakes when you're upside down.”



8. "I don't think there's anything exceptional or noble in being philanthropic. It's the other attitude that confuses me."



9. "The embarrassing thing is that the salad dressing is out grossing my films."



10. "When I realized I was going to have to be a whore, to put my face on the label, I decided that the only way I could do it was to give away all the money we make."



11. "Building weapons that we don’t need, don’t work, and aren’t necessary, and have no mission—that’s not bad politics, that’s robbery."



12. "I have taken roads that I wished I had not traveled on. And I'm traveling on some pretty exciting ones, too. Just hope when you get to that great racetrack in the sky, that the balance will tip slightly into those things that you'd be proud of."



2009-01-12 19:23:46 GMT