Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 5/17 - Well-lived

Last night PBS in NYC ran a documentary on one of the 20th century’s most interesting literary figures, George Plimpton. He was most famous for his dalliances in professional sports. He sparred with boxing legend Archie Moore, who had a ten-year reign as light-heavyweight champion and holds the record for knockouts. There is a great still photo of the tall, scrawny Plimpton standing in the middle of the ring, dazed, blood pouring from his nose. The author once pitched to a lineup of all-stars in an exhibition baseball game. He got the first two men out, one of whom was Willie Mays, then was shelled. He performed two basic stunts on the trapeze, which was captured on film and was really cool. He spent time in the training camp of the Detroit Lions as a QB, and wrote a book about it, Paper Lion, which was a runaway best seller and adapted to film in 1968, Alan Alda in the lead. I remember being disappointed that it veered so far from the book. Plimpton did not participate in any games, only scrimmages, and fared miserably, too slow to execute even a simple hand-off. He did play in an NHL exhibition game as a goaltender for the Boston Bruins vs. the Philadelphia Flyers during the Broad Street Bullies era.  In one period he surrendered a single goal. Mike Milbury deliberately committed an offense so that Plimpton could experience a penalty shot. He faced one of the great scorers of that time, Reggie Leach, and stoned him! He was a personal friend of the Kennedys and campaigned with Bobby during the presidential primaries in 1968. He was only a few feet away when Sirhan Sirhan shot the candidate, and was one of the men who wrestled the assassin to the floor. He never wrote about it, which is both odd, given that he was a writer, and understandable, as it must have been an experience one would not want to relive. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was his work as editor of the Paris Review, one of the foremost literary magazines in history. His interviews with such luminaries as Ernest Hemingway appeared in it regularly. For many years he financed it himself, despite the fact that it hemorrhaged money. He seemed a genial soul, frequently smiling. He hosted legendary parties. The footage from them is a who’s who of celebrities from all fields. The piece runs about 1:20. It is a breath of positive fresh air. Plimpton’s was life well-lived.

My thanks to the kind souls who bought books today, and to the gentleman who donated three.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx