My Favorite Paul Newman movie - "Absence of Malice"

It does not seem possible that Paul Newman could be no longer here. I grew up knowing his name and hearing news about him all my life. I remember when Tom Cruise was a fairly new star and he worked with Paul Newman in "The Color of Money" and how Paul was a mentor to Tom. Life Magazine did a profile on their friendship. I remember when Paul Newman's son Scott died as a young adult. He created the Scott Newman Foundation to honor him. I think I also saw one of his daughters in an off-Broadway production when I was growing up ("...Gamma Rays...").

Paul was never like anyone else. He was able to handle the huge stardom and still not get a big head over it. No star was ever more famous or more respected than Paul Newman. He had an astonishing ability to raise hundreds of millions for charity because he made the most of his ability to help others. I'm deeply impressed with his 50-year love story with Joanne Woodward, and equally impressed by their devotion to living in Connecticut all these years. It's been a few weeks but it's still very hard to get used to the fact that Paul Newman is no longer with us. I trust he is in an even more wonderful place now.

He REALLY seemed to know how to live life to the fullest. That's more than most of us can say.

My personal favorite Paul Newman movie is "Absence of Malice" and I highly recommend you get a copy and see it. It stars Sally Field, Melinda Dillon, and a great cast. I LOVE that movie. I can't count how many times I have seen this film.

An ex-boyfriend raved about this movie and insisted that I watch it. He was right. Now I'll rave about it to you. WONDERFUL - a must-see drama. (It's very sad at times and tough to watch.) This is Paul Newman at his best, if you ask me. But then I think he was always at his best - yet still human, one of us, a regular guy - who somehow could stay with one person for 50 years, build an empire, be a great actor, be a father, be a beloved member of his community and the world, and still have tons of fun doing things he loved.

A great quote from Paul Newman regarding his "Hole in the Wall" camp:

"I wish I could recall with clarity the impulse that compelled me to help bring this camp into being. I’d be pleased if I could announce a motive of lofty purpose. I’ve been accused of compassion, of altruism, of devotion to Christian, Hebrew, and Moslem ethic, but however desperate I am to claim ownership of a high ideal, I cannot. I wanted, I think, to acknowledge Luck; the chance of it, the benevolence of it in my life, and the brutality of it in the lives of others, made especially savage for children because they may not be allowed the good fortune of a lifetime to correct it." – Paul Newman
quoted from www.holeinthewallgang.org/tribute5.asp

Richard Bay giving "The Speech"

From "The Practice" starring, in this scene, Jason Kravits and Lara Flynn Boyle as Richard Bay and Helen Gamble. "The Practice" had several episodes with some great speeches and this is one of them.

Oliver's Story

Almost 2 1/2 years ago, I shared the story of my dog Harvey. I found him in Houston on Long Point street. He was sitting in the middle of the street; later we realized he had been hit by a car. To make a long story short, he's been doing great, and he's the best dog you could ever have.

Well, in April, I was on my way to get some lunch one day. I took a back street that I don't usually take (Judiway street, a few blocks from Ella, nothing to write home about).

I saw this little dog trudging across the street. He could hardly make it across. He was completely covered with mange. He looked SO horrible that I just had to stop.

Here are some pictures of this dog from the day I found him. He was actually living in a large SEWER pipe.

Because he was obviously suffering from starvation and mange, I had to get him out of there. This always seems to happen to me. It always happens a short time after one of my pets has died. I usually have 2 dogs (and a cat). I always vow that I'm not getting any more pets. After all, after my daughters are out of high school, I'd like to spend a month in Paris, etc., and not have to worry about mutts!

But it never fails that when one dog dies, a few months later, I happen upon some dreadful dog situation. In the last 2 cases, I kept hinting at the pet hospital staff to please feel free to fall in love with the dog and take it home after it was all well.

The complete story about Oliver is here: https://withlovemimitanner.com/oliver.html

Thornton "Thorny" Penfield, my English professor at UNO

I've spent a lot of my life in New Orleans. One person I remember most from New Orleans comes to mind very often. He was my English professor at UNO, Thornton Penfield, known to everyone as Thorny. He was truly an unforgettable person. It seems like just yesterday that I was with him.

When I came to UNO at the age of 20, it was a very difficult time for me. Several months earlier, I had left a religious community of 100 people where I'd spent two years. It was in central California, and we spent months living in mountain camps in Oregon and Washington as well. When I left, I was "disfellowshipped" - which was the California Jesus People way of saying "shunned."

In one of my papers in Thorny's English class, I wrote about the place - expressing the enormous love I had for the place, which had been my whole life and which I'd originally planned to be part of forever.

Thorny wrote a comment on the paper that still means the world to me. It said that he was grading these compositions and finally came across one that meant something.

The last time I saw him, I came to his home to get the term paper he was grading for me. I wrote it in longhand.

There Mr. Penfield gave me a book... which I still have to this day, related to the subject of my term paper about the religious and social changes of 1920s.

He also gave me some great advice which I should have taken, which was to take summer work in New York state, which he thought would be a good experience for me.

He was very caring, truly full of life, and had that mischievous smile and attitude. I have thought of him SO often to this very day.

There are some people in life that we are lucky to have known. Thorny Penfield was definitely such a person to me, and to many others. He was the first person who ever specifically encouraged me as a writer. That was an important milestone for me and I will always be tremendously grateful he cared enough to do that.

Twittering?

I have no intention of Twittering! You gotta be kidding me.

But if you must know what's going on right now...

My cat is very sick. He (Tiger) has a fever. He's on antibiotics. But he's not doing that well. I'll keep you posted.

Right now he is watching "The Usual Suspects." He loves that movie.