Paul Newman

It's the cliche to end all cliches, but life goes on. It goes on, and sometimes it's painful. Tonight I was blog-hopping and came across the news that Paul Newman, now 83, is apparently in the terminal stages of cancer and may be down to his final weeks among us. People the age of my children (and younger) won't understand why I'm disturbed by this information, but I am. Through his movie roles, Paul Newman is connected with some of the best memories of my lifetime. He and Steve McQueen were the definition of cool when I was easing from adolescence into young manhood, the kind of guys I always wanted to be. More than once, I tried to handle situations the way I imagined Paul Newman would handle them. It didn't seem silly at the time.

Paul Newman was a star of such magnitude that it felt like he was an integral part of American life and always would be. It's hard to realize he might not be around. I've seen some of his movies over and over and will watch 'em a few more times before I'm through, and in that sense he'll be immortal as far as I'm personally concerned.