Sometimes Nothin' Can Be A Real Cool Hand

What's a hero?

To some it's a stranger who dives selflessly in front of a speeding Ford and cradles a newborn baby to safety. To others it's a guy who puts out fires. To me, it was a guy who could swallow fifty hardboiled eggs in one sitting and still walk away with his gut in tact. It wasn't the ocean blue eyes or dashing good looks. It was the everyman. The quiet rebellion. The absense of fear in nonconformity. That guy was Paul Newman.

It's funny how you can feel genuine loss for someone you've never met. How you can feel like you've lost a good friend. A loyal friend who's always there, ready and waiting to talk or listen whenever you pop in a DVD to dillute the day's frustrations. A friend who always says the right things. Always says the same things. The things that comfort you. The things that make you smile. The things that make you cry. The things that shape you. The things that can even make you a better person. Paul Newman was many things to many people. I'm sure he was a caring father to his children. A loving husband to his wife. A real friend away from the silver screen. But I'll never know that Paul Newman. I'll only know the guy who never took no for an answer on my T.V. screen. The guy who wasn't afraid to hustle. And I'm cool with that. Because to me, Paul Newman will never be gone. He'll always be tucked away in several spots throughout my movie collection.

A friend of mine once had an encounter with Paul Newman during a Nascar event in Ohio. He scrambled awkwardly up to the cigar-chomping icon and asked in a squeaky voice if he could steal an autograph. Paul looked down at the kid, his mashed cigar temporarily held to the corner of his mouth, and said, "no." My friend and I spoke about why Paul refused to grant his request, even after he'd poured a bleeding heart's worth of praise upon him. He either said, "no" because he didn't buy into his own celebrity. Or he said it because he was being a dick. Whatever he really meant, it probably meant nothing. Some people pull teeth for a living and some people pull favors. Paul Newman pulled the heart strings of millions of moviegoers around the world. Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.