Paul Newman 1925 - 2008

The AP reports that the great actor, sex symbol, philanthropist, race car driver, purveyor of excellent spaghetti sauce, and all around good guy succumbed yesterday to cancer after a months-long battle. He was 83. Newman's Own has a legacy page up already. I'll have more to say later but for now, just this: The man was unlike any other performer of his generation, or, arguably, other generations, in that he loved what he did, cared not a whit for the circus surrounding it, and actually figured out a way to turn that circus to advantage for himself and for others. Without once losing his raffish cool, I might add. We will not see his like again. Ever.

Personally, we're taking Newman's passing hard here (my wife is bumming) and will probably watch "The Hustler" or "Cool Hand Luke" tonight in his honor. Other appropriate observances would be "The Verdict," "The Color of Money," "Hud," "Harper," "Nobody's Fool," or "The Sting."