Author George Plimpton dies at age 76

[kerouac]

NEW YORK (AP) — George Plimpton, the self-deprecating author of Paper Lion and a patron to Philip Roth, Jack Kerouac and countless other writers, has died. He was 76.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2003-09-26-plimpton-obit_x.htm

[AntiCoup2K4]

1. And there's two....

who's going to be unlucky #3 :-(

[Minstrel Boy]

2. What a brutal year this has been.

We've lost a lot of good people.

[Gman]

3. Plimpton was a pretty good quarterback

in the NFL. His writing has overshadowed (and rightfully so) his football career, but he did play and that's also an important part of his life.

[Blitz]

4. Um, Plimpton was many things but

he was most certainly NOT a "pretty good quarterback in the NFL" and he did not have a football career:

In "Paper Lion," he documented his time training with the Detroit Lions in 1963. Allowed briefly to play quarterback, he remembered the crowd cheering as he left the field after a series of mishaps.

"I thought about the applause afterward. Some of it was, perhaps, in appreciation of the lunacy of my participation and for the fortitude it took to do it," he wrote, "but most of it, even if subconscious, I decided was in relief that I had done as badly as I had.

"It verified the assumption that the average fan would have about an amateur blundering into the brutal world of professional football. He would get slaughtered. ... The outsider did not belong, and there was comfort in that being proved."

http://espn.go.com/gen/news/2003/0926/1623989.html

I'm not taking anything away from the man; just setting the record straight.

Edit for typo.

[frylock]

5. probably thinking of jack kemp.

[MGKrebs]

7. Or George Blanda n/t

[5thGenDemocrat]

6. I interviewed him once as a student journalist at Central Michigan

He said of all the pursuits he took on -- quarterbacking the Lions, pitching against a team of all-stars, boxing Archie Moore, etc -- the toughest and most nerve-racking was playing the cymbals in a performance by the New York Philharmonic. He only had to crash them together once, but if he was off by a note it would screw up the entire piece.
Of course, when Plimpton told the story, it was funny as hell. He had a keen eye for details and probably the best job anyone ever had in American sportswriting.
I have three extra (paperback) copies of Paper Lion here at the house (as I said, I'm a former journalist and a packrat). If anyone hasn't read this groundbreaking work of sports journalism (simply a WONDERFUL book), let me know and I'll send one along.
And thank you, Mister Plimpton, for being so kind and patient with a bunch of J101 kids. I, for one, really appreciated it.
John
I think I recall that Plimpton and Art Buchwald worked together on the Paris Herald-Tribune in the 1950s.

[janx]

8. God bless him and keep him. I love the Paris Review.

We hear about pop stars every day, but when a guy like this moves on, it's a sad day indeed.

[JitterbugPerfume]

10. so many heros

gone forever

Jitterbug is crying for George, Johnny , and more


much , much more

[Hand]

9. A true original

Plimpton was truly elegant man, self-effacing, modest, quite funny, and intelligent. He was born to privilege and knew it, and used that big advantage wisely and unself-consciously.

Contrast him to a certain other fellow who was born to privilege and used it, well... suffice to say that Plimpton crapped bigger than him.

Goodbye, George. You were a good man. Here's to you.

:toast:

ON EDIT: Typos.

[noonwitch]

11. The local DJs were saying that he was at the Lions' game on Sunday

Robert Palmer also died today.

[FredScuttle]

12. Last hurrah

I really enjoyed his appearance in the documentary of the 1974 heavyweight championship bout between Ali and Foreman in Zaire...."When We Were Kings". He and Norman Mailer provided excellent narration to that historic event.

He will be missed.