This Robert Hubbell column today made me feel a little bit better this morning. It might do the same to you…https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/join-the-pre-election-discussion?r=4adbb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Billy Crystal on Mohammad Ali
Billy Crystal and Muhammad Ali had a friendship that spanned over forty years.
I have long admired Billy Crystal as a talented and wonderful, caring person and was not surprised to learn that, like me, he grew up in a home dedicated to civil rights. His father was a producer of jazz concerts and was one of the first to integrate bands in the forties and fifties. His family produced Strange Fruit, Billie Holiday's poignant song about the lynching of African Americans in America.
What I didn't know is that Muhammad Ali and Billy Crystal had an unusual and deep relationship and they considered each other brothers.
Muhammad Ali was a looming figure in my life--I admired him, not for his boxing prowess but because he was a hero to my father when he stood up against the Vietnam War and was a moral example for many young Americans who shared his belief that the war was just simply wrong and unjust...
I share with you here Billy Crystal's beautiful and very moving eulogy to Muhammad Ali, laced with humor, delivered in Louisville, Kentucky on June 10, 2016.
Keanu Reeves
photo courtesy Wikipedia
Written by cultural critic Alex Pappademas, published by Abrams Books
Because this column is all about celebrating the unsung heroes of our world, here is a piece on Keanu Reeves that touched me.
"He was abandoned by his father at 3 years old and grew up with 3 different stepfathers. He is dyslexic. His dream of becoming a hockey player was shattered by a serious accident. His daughter died at birth. His wife died in a car accident. His best friend, River Phoenix, died of an overdose. His sister has leukemia.
And with everything that has happened, Keanu Reeves never misses an opportunity to help people in need. When he was filming the movie "The Lake House," he overheard the conversation of two costume assistants; One cried because he would lose his house if he did not pay $20,000 and on the same day Keanu deposited the necessary amount in the woman's bank account. He also donated stratospheric sums to hospitals.
In 2010, on his birthday, Keanu walked into a bakery and bought a brioche with a single candle, ate it in front of the bakery, and offered coffee to people who stopped to talk to him.
After winning astronomical sums for the Matrix trilogy, the actor donated more than $50 million to the staff who handled the costumes and special effects - the true heroes of the trilogy, as he called them.
He also gave a Harley-Davidson to each of the stunt doubles. A total expense of several million dollars. And for many successful films, he has even given up 90% of his salary to allow the production to hire other stars.
In 1997 some paparazzi found him walking one morning in the company of a homeless man in Los Angeles, listening to him and sharing his life for a few hours.
Most stars when they make a charitable gesture they declare it to all the media. He has never claimed to be doing charity, he simply does it as a matter of moral principles and not to look better in the eyes of others.
This man could buy everything, and instead every day he gets up and chooses one thing that cannot be bought: Be a good person."
Humanity at its best.
Many people have stories about Reeves, since he often travels alone without handlers. Naomi Fry, staff writer at The New Yorker, wrote about some of these encounters in a short article entitled "Keanu Reeves Is Too Good for This World back in 2019.
Kurt Vonnegut Documentary
Documentary filmmaker Robert Weide was the principal director and an executive producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm for the show's first five years.
Self Portrait by Kurt Vonnegut
Whether you have been a big fan of Kurt Vonnegut all your life like the filmmaker Robert Weide and me or are just learning about him now for the first time, this documentary Unstuck in Time is a beautiful tribute to an amazing and influential writer who has a lot to say about life and the human condition. Vonnegut authored fourteen novels in addition to many essays and short stories. He tackled life's biggest questions with satirical humor and his unconventional style combined the philosophy of metaphysics with science fiction, mixed in with ramblings about the simple banalities of human life. Unstuck in Time is available on hulu and youtube and in my humble opinion, well worth the watch...
Photo of the Week:
My studio these days, Midcoast Maine
Charity of the Week:
ACLU Legal Defense Fund
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New York, NY 2022
About The Author
New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.