Paul Newman; A Life
By Shawn Levey
Published by Harmony Books 2009
Pages 489 Price $29.99

Paul Newman, an entertainment giant in the film and theater world, gave many people enjoyable hours of fascinating character studies in his film and theater creations. Shawn Levey, a well known film critic, has written a warm and intimate view of Newman with compassion and personal insight.

Born in 1925 in Shaker Heights,Ohio, and died in 2008 in Westport, Connecticut. Newman’s early interest was the theater. He served in World War II and after the war attended Kenyon College and Yale Drama School where he explored drama. He later studied under Lee Strasburg at the Actor’s Studio in New York. Newman made his Broadway theater debut in William Inge’s “Picnic” in 1953 and later was in the Broadway production of “The Desparate Hours” in 1955. In 1959 he was in the Broadway production of “Sweet Bird of Youth” with Geraldine Page. Newman was torn between acting in the theater and acting  in films. He often did both, flying from New York to California when approached or when offered a script which he liked. However,the theater was his fist love.

In 1958 he went Hollywood and starred in two major films that brought him great success on the screen; ”Up There Somebody Likes Me” and “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof.” Other films followed: “Exodus” in 1960, “The Hustler” in 1961, “Cool Hand Luke,”1967 and “The Glass Menagerie” in 1987. Newman won an Academy Award for his role in “The Color of Money” in 1986. His last appearance was in 2005 in a mini-series on PBS titled “Empire Falls,” from the novel by Richard Russo.

My favorite chapter in this book focused on Newman’s love of creating his own salad dressing. Beyond being a gifted film and theater actor, film director, and philanthropist, Newman loved to cook. He often cooked at his home while hosting barbecues. One of his favorite recipes was his salad dressing. He mixed it himself and would send his kids home with a supply of dressing in old wine bottles. Then Newman got his friend, the writer, A.E. Hotchner, to invest in it. Newman matched the investment and then went off and made films. Hotchner, famous for writing a biography of Hemingway, looked into the food industry to market the salad dressing and consulted many manufacturers. They all said, “Forget it. You won’t be successful.The food industry is a tough business.”

Newman and Hotchner never gave up. They arranged a blind testing of their dressing with selected other salad dressings, organized by a Westport chef named Martha Stewart at his home in Connecticut! A miracle happened. Newman’s dressing won the contest. Inspired, Newman and Hotchner set up shop in in a small suite of offices in Westport, Connecticut, using Newman’s swimming pool chairs and a ping-pong table and went to work on creating what would later be called “Newman’s Own” salad dressing. Hotchner and Newman didn’t always agree on things. But from the beginning, they agreed if the salad dressing was successful the money would all go to charity because they were doing this for the fun of it. They kept their promise.The company has expanded to other products but all proceeds still go to charity.

Newman was very generous and funded many charities, one of which was the Hole in the Wall Gang summer camp for seriously ill young people ages 7-15 founded in 1988. After more than 30 years the camp is still running and sponsors year round  programs in schools and hospitals.

Even though Newman had lung cancer in 2005, he kept active in Westport, Connecticut where he and his wife Joanne Woodward lived on their  farm and supported a theater, the Westport Country Playhouse.

Several weeks before Newman died he visited the Hole in the Wall Camp and the Westport Country Playhouse which he loved. He died Friday September 26. 2008. In conclusion the book states, “According to Newman’s wishes a cremation and a  simple private memorial service was held.”  What a humble choice for a giant in the film industry and a wonderful philanthropist to make. In death he made a strong statement of his values, simplicity,  humility, and back to nature. He will not be forgotten.

***

Georgia O’Keeffe: An Eternal Spirit
By Susan Wright
Published by Mason Crest 2019
Pages 129 Price $26.95

Susan Wright, art historian and novelist, said in the book “Georgia O’Keeffe, Eternal Spirit,” that “O’Keeffe’s love of nature was surely inspired by her childhood in Wisconsin.” This beautiful book has many works of art reproduced in color throughout its pages. In addition some wonderful black and white photographs  not published before can be seen. For example, a photograph of a young Alfred Stieglitz taking a photograph in a field of wild flowers is poignant and unusual.

Reproductions of famous works created throughout the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s are large spreads in the book. They are especially appealing  to see this winter because many of them are flowers which appear in the spring and are welcome sights during this cold winter. Some works in the book which have a focus on flowers include:”Oriental Poppies,” “Pink Tulip” “Apple Blossoms” and “White Trumpet Flower.” The reader can see some of the borders of her flowers merge into abstract art. O’Keeffe appears to be fascinated with death in her paintings which focus on bones and skeletons of animals. Bones can be seen in the works tilted “Cow’s Skull with Calico Rose,”  and “Horses Skull on Blue.” However, the book states as an artist, she did not see death in these skeleton forms. She saw in skeleton bones purity of form, not death at all. However, my favorite works are her flowers and landscapes which blend into abstract forms.

O’Keeffe was born in 1887 in Wisconsin on a large dairy farm and credits her style to the influence of the environment from that part of the country. As a child O’Keeffe wanted to be an artist. Most of her early works  were portraits of her family and friends. O’Keeffe studied at a wide variety of schools including the Art Students League of New York.

She attended the University of Virginia in 1912 and taught there for a year. O’Keeffe moved to Amarillo,Texas where she taught art for two years in a local high school. Later O’Keeffe returned to New York.

The author states that O’Keeffe destroyed many of her early works because she felt she had been influenced by her teachers and she wanted her works to be her own style, not  considered derivative of others. She was self-critical and a perfectionist which led to the tragedy of destroying her own works at the age of 28 in 1915.

During this time she attended Teachers College of Columbia University and started to draw charcoal studies with abstract designs. A friend showed her work to Alfred Stieglitz, a well known photographer and art dealer, who owned an art gallery called “291.” Stieglitz loved her work and became her art dealer showing her work and encouraging her to expand her style. Years later they were married.

By 1929 they had frequent separations and O’Keefe traveled to New Mexico, to spend an entire summer creating in isolation. She started to spend summers in New Mexico and winters with Steiglitz in New york. When Alfred died in 1946, O’Keeffe moved to New Mexico permanently. She loved the colors of the desert which can be seen in a work titled,”My Back Yard”, and ”Red Canna.” O’Keeffe continued to paint late in her life. She turned to reducing forms to primary shapes and loved painting clouds. At 90 she used her peripheral vision and memory to paint patterns of life because she had macular degeneration. She died  in 1986 in Santa Fe, New Mexico leaving a vast amount of her work.

In conclusion, this book is interesting because it has quotes around works directly from O’Keeffe. Reproductions of works in the book are large, in color, and extend across the whole page. This new volume is part of an American art series, with a list in the back of educational videos available on O’Keeffe. It gives a great overview of O’Keefe’s style and growth.

— Pat Davidson Reef is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston. She received her Masters Degree at the University of Southern Maine.She taught English and Art History at Catherine McAuley High for many years.She now teaches at the University of Southern Maine in Portland in the  Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Classic Films. She recently wrote a children’s book,”Dahlov Ipcar Artist, and is now writing another children’s book “Bernard Langlais Revisited.”