Paul Newman — Man of Natural Virtue
Sep 27th, 2008 by Mark Stricherz
Over at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick tells a good story about the late great Paul Newman:
The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp opened in Connecticut in 1988 to provide a summer camping experience—fishing, tie-dye, ghost stories, s’mores—for seriously ill children. By 1989, when I started working there as a counselor, virtually everyone on staff would tell some version of the same story: Paul Newman, who had founded the camp when it became clear his little salad-dressing lark was accidentally going to earn him millions, stops by for one of his not-infrequent visits. He plops down at a table in the dining hall next to some kid with leukemia, or HIV, or sickle cell anemia, and starts to eat lunch. One version of the story has the kid look from the picture of Newman on the Newman’s Own lemonade carton to Newman himself, then back to the carton and back to Newman again before asking, “Are you lost?” Another version: The kid looks steadily at him and demands, “Are you really Paul Human?”
Newman loved those stories. He loved to talk about the little kids who had no clue who he was, this friendly old guy who kept showing up at camp to take them fishing.
The anecdote illustrates why I have long admired Paul Newman: He embodied natural virtue, goodness unaided by grace and attainable by moral reflection. Here was a man who excelled professionally — it is fair to put him in the class of Hollywood’s greatest actors — and morally. It wasn’t just his camp for sick kids. It was all the money he gave to charity. It was, by my lights at least, opposition to the Vietnam War and drug abuse. It was his 50 year marriage to his wife. It was his distaste for Hollywood. And it was the characters he played, the anti-heroes who struggled morally, usually to do the right thing.
As said himself, he did not try to be saint and wasn’t one. He and his first wife divorced in spite of their two children. He seems to have practiced no religion. As he once said,
“We are such spendthrifts with our lives,” Mr. Newman once told a reporter. “The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”
Yet, and forgive my preachiness, his life could teach religious people a lot. About the virtues of humanitarian action. About self-deprecation and humility. About a distrust of power and fame. Let’s put it this way. If I hoped to strike up a conversation with Paul Newman or a religious leader, I suspect that my odds would equally good.
Of course, Newman’s life can also teach me a lot. I criticize secularism for its self-centeredness and neglect of moral consequences. But Newman was a major exception to those sins. Indeed, he seems to have overcame and triumphed over them.
[...] Paul Newman — Man of Natural VirtueIt wasn’t just his camp for sick kids. It was all the money he gave to charity. It was, by my lights at least, opposition to the Vietnam War and drug abuse. It was his 50 year marriage to his wife. It was his distaste for Hollywood. … [...]
Paul Newman may have done good things, but you left out how he was an avid supporter of Planned Parenthood, and contributed large amounts of money to it, and the cause to keep abortion legal in Dakota a year or so ago. I suggest if you are going to praise a Hollywood actor on a Catholic blog, you would be wise to check a few facts first. In case you did not know, Planned Parenthood is the largest baby killer in the U.S.
I don’t really disagree with this, but I wonder how much Newman’s “natural virtue” was a result of reflection and how much was a result of genetic endowment.
Fr. Greg,
By genetic endowment, do you mean his parents and or their religious backgrounds?
H Koczur,
I wondered whether Newman donated to PP. All I found on the web was that his charity stopped giving money to PP. How much the charity gave and why they stopped I don’t know. If you can find anything on the web, please let me know.
“He embodied natural virtue, goodness unaided by grace and attainable by moral reflection.”….
What’s sad, beside the obvious ignorances regarding Paul Newman the post betrayed, is the ignorance belied by “goodness unaided by grace”.
Paul Newman did do good things with his time on earth, but as “Fr. Greg” hints; “but she of her want, hath cast in all the living that she had.” {Luke 21:4}
As for PN himself “The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”; living is a “trick” measured by “fuss”.
Sanctity is clearly something PN is aware of, though he doesnt not seem to think it as important or essential the pagan self-orientated perspective of being essential to the “circle of life”. I guess a humble, un-noticed life lived for God through Christ was simply not as satisfying as the “natural virtue” of man. Or maybe it was simply he didnt need the “grace” to do such great works.
As for any Planned Parenthood connection. I find it difficult to lay praise on anyone who supported such an organization, after seeing the truth of its intrinsic evil remained silent. Especially when one is given the gift of position PN enjoyed.
All that being said, I am NOT saying Paul Newman was a bad man. Paul Newman did do good things. But I am saying one should be very careful who they hold up for praise, how high, and why.
There’s a reason the Church is slow to declare someone a Saint. I think such “celebrations of life” regarding secular icons should be approached with an eye to this wisdom.
God Alone. All else is either ignorance or a self-centered life.
Paul Newman was a killer. He supported abortion. In such a state, his ‘good works’ have no merit.
I was speaking of quite literally of Newman’s “genetic endowment,” the information contained in his biological DNA.
Father Greg,
It is difficult to find the link of Newman and Planned Parenthood on the web, because of the 100’s of articles about his death, but check http://www.fightpp.org and scroll down to celebrity watch..both he and his wife Joanne Woodward were and are major contributors. I am not judging, but mixed signals are given when a Catholic web site praises someone who would contribute even one cent to kill a child.
Father Greg, Check http://www.fightpp.org, scroll down to celebrity watch..both Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward were and are contributors to Planned Parenthood.
This is not a catholic website!
Dave,
I would like to see evidence that Paul Newman supported PP for the explicit purpose of funding abortions. If you can find it, I will update my post, noting my strong objection to his donations.
If you can’t find the evidence, I would urge you to read about what Catholics should do before they go to confession and receive absolution. It appears that you don’t grasp that a person’s subjective state plays a key role in whether he or she has committed mortal sin.
“If you can’t find the evidence, I would urge you to read about what Catholics should do before they go to confession and receive absolution. It appears that you don’t grasp that a person’s subjective state plays a key role in whether he or she has committed mortal sin.”
Or even if Newman did so donate. Of course, many RC’s don’t understand this, and, prior to Vatican II, the Church, at least perhaps outside the confessional, seemed to presuppose that any action involving grave matter is, indeed, a mortal sin. There was little discussion, at least on a practical level, of the subjective factors involved: full knowledge, full consent of the will, etc. Thus, previously, the precept read, “One must confess all MORTAL sins at least once a year.” Now it reads, “One must confess all GRAVE sins…”
Abortion is an intrinsic evil, which according to the Church, is always wrong, no matter the circumstances. To say that there MUST be EVIDENCE that the support one gives to PP was for the explicit purpose of funding abortion is a cop out. When one aids an intrinsic evil, whether directly or indirectly, it is still a grave sin. Also, if a person is involved enough to give thousands of dollars to an organization, there has to be a certain awareness of the organizations purpose…chemical abortions, surgical abortions, birth control, which very often results in abortion.
h koczur makes fair points. Still, I see no evidence that Paul Newman himself donated money to PP, let alone thousands of dollars. Now, Newman’s charity did give money to PP. But did Newman himself know about it? and why did his charity stop giving money to PP?
I still contend Newman was a poor choice. He was openly involved in support of zero population, gay rights, same sex marriage, womens’ rights..and I think we all know by now what we mean by rights!
If he dropped openly supporting abortion with Newman’s Own, remember he was getting much pressure about this, and was probably losing sales.
There are too many shadows, and this was not a proper hero for a Catholic site. You would have been better off leaving a prayer for the repose of his, and leave it at that.
May God have mercy on his soul..
it’s hard not to admire Paul Newman for putting his money to work in such productive ways, such as his Newman’s Own line–high quality stuff and the proceeds go to good causes… very smart.
Thanks for the information posted here… I’ve actually found some of these comments very informative, as I’ve wondered what charities Newman’s products have supported, and it’s unfortunate to read about the Planned Parenthood connection. I admire the good causes he’s given money to, but now when I buy his salad dressing, do I need to wonder if indirectly I’m supporting PP?
It is true that he was a man of natural virtue, but not without flaws. I knew him slightly, having raced against him at Lime Rock over the years. I think most of his intellectual influences were limited to mainstream icons of the art and literary world. But in recent years he was softening quite a bit towards religious sympathy. I never could work up the nerve to engage him in a lengthy talk about transcendent truths, but he was touched a couple of years ago when I told him I would dedicate a rosary for him.
Ed B,
Thanks for your comments, long after I wrote the original post. I will keep your memories in mind and tell my dad, who like me knows his faults but still gets a smile on his face when he thinks of “Paul,” not just for his movies but also his works.