John Henry's in love

Boston magazine's cover story on John Henry's romance with Linda Pizzuti is an entertaining read. It reminds us a little of a Lifetime movie: Fabulously rich Red Sox owner falls head over heels for an attractive, much-younger woman who initially rebuffs her bigshot suitor but ultimately relents and begins planning a wedding. Not exactly an expose, the flattering portrait of the millionaire and his future missus was written by a pal of Pizzuti's, Emily Kumler, who had unique access not only to the couple but to their e-mails. (More on that later.) Boston mag editor James Burnett told us yesterday Kumler pitched the piece, and after giving it some thought, he said yes. "This isn’t Sy Hersh trying to dig up secret plans to bomb Iran," Burnett said in an e-mail yesterday. "It’s a woman writing about what happened when one of her close friends started dating the owner of the Boston Red Sox." The pictures accompanying the piece show the May-December duo on board Henry's yacht, together at the Daytona 500, on the field at Fenway, and, our favorite, enjoying ice cream cones in Paris. Though Henry is 59, he sounds like a love-sick teen. Just check out this e-mail, which the divorced dad of one daughter sent to Pizzuti not long after meeting her:

Dear Linda,
A man needs a muse. Well, he doesn't really. He doesn't need nearly as much as he generally thinks he does. A man is greedy. Greedy for what he doesn't think he has and what he thinks he wants.
We probably wouldn't have wandered far beyond the basic necessities without that pushing us. Progress is one of its most important byproducts.
So you will ask, "Why are you writing this?" Because a brief encounter-and-a-half with you gave a cool spin to this little blue planet from my vantage point.
We feted the Celtics tonight and the skies opened. The sun emerged and created a giant rainbow between the city and the park. We were transfixed.
You only saw it if you were in the right place. I was in the right place when I noticed you.
I barely know you. I don't have any illusions about capturing your heart. But the world is brighter, better, lighter and warmer when a man imbues a woman he knows -- even tabula rasa -- with the attributes that I believe reside in you. It's the small things that ultimately matter, the subtle things.
I am honest. I don't play games. And I see no reason not to say that I've been smitten by you and you've done me a great service.
You've very innocently made my world brighter, better, lighter and warmer.
So thanks.
No response is necessary because a man doesn't need nearly as much as he thinks he does.

Since you're probably wondering about Pizzuti's response, here it is:

A man may not need as much as he thinks he does, but courage and honesty should be acknowledged. I am not so naive as to believe I actually possess the qualities you attribute to me. But thank you.