Rest in Peace Paul Newman

By Jim on September 28th, 2008

Very sad to hear of his passing. I didn’t agree with all of his politics but he seemed like a decent man. I’ve bought his Newman’s Own popcorn and spaghetti sauce for quite a while.

Last night I made some spaghetti and opened a jar of Newman’s Own Onion and Garlic sauce. I ate my spaghetti as a tribute to a good guy that tried to use his fame and fortune to make a difference in the lives of other people.

Thanks for the fantastic food, Paul. And for the movies.

Rest in peace, God rest your soul.

Edit: One of the kids that went to one of the “Hole in the Wall” camps remembers Newman:

It was even better than some family vacations, because I got to get away from worried relatives who constantly reminded me that I shouldn’t do this or I shouldn’t do that. At Paul Newman’s camp, a kid – as sick as he or she was – was allowed to be a kid.

I went horseback riding, camping, swimming, fly-fishing and canoeing. I loved my log cabin. And the young counselors, volunteers and caring staff seemed to make all us young campers forget about our worries so that we could focus on the important thing – having fun.

My favorite part was camping outdoors, roasting marshmallows in front of a roaring campfire where I experienced my first kiss. (Not that that was part of the camp’s agenda – I was just a young scamp and there were some real cute girls there. “Hud” probably would have understood.)

One night, I met Mr. Newman. He came through to hang out and join in some corny camp sing-a-longs. But “Hi, My Name is Joe” and “Kumbayah” can’t really be considered corny if “Cool Hand Luke” is bellowing out a couple of verses.