Paul Newman

I have been remiss in not mentioning legendary actor and philanthropist, Paul Newman, who passed away last weekend at the age of 83. There are lots of great shirtless pictures of Newman, but I choose to post a simple shot of him here in honor of a truly classy man. From his interviews, it seemed that he never wanted to be a beefcake-type of guy or a hunk but rather a person who worked on his craft and gave back to his community and to those less fortunate. I had the honor of meeting Mr. Newman and his fantastic wife, Joanne Woodward, about 12 years ago when I was at a gala fundraiser for a non-profit that I worked at as an assistant. Somehow I was selected as the lucky person who would give the power couple their tickets. My instructions were to find them in the lobby of the theater, give them their tickets, and then report back to the senior staff. I found them in the lobby right on time and handed Mr. Newman the tickets for which he politely thanked me and then went back to report to the senior staff which was comprised entirely of women of my mother's generation. This group of power women was instantly turned into teenagers as they all plied me with questions about how it went. I think someone wanted to know whether he had touched me. No, Paul Newman did not touch me, but wow, what a gentleman! So today IMS salutes a man who could do great shirtlessness along with a whole bunch of even better things. Paul Newman, we will miss far more than your bright blue eyes.

Yours in shirtlessness and many other wonderful qualities,
Nandita
President
IMS