R.I.P. George Plimpton. From his website:
“There are people who would perhaps call me a dilettante, because it looks as though I’m having too much fun. I have never been convinced there’s anything inherently wrong in having fun.”
He did a lot of things, but the one I’ll remember best is his April Fool’s Day story about Sidd Finch. Who wouldn’t like a guy who could write a convincing story about a reclusive pitcher who threw a 168mph fastball in tryouts with the Mets? I was a Sports Illustrated subscriber even then, and the letters written by exultant fans which appeared in the magazine the following week were riotously funny.
As I listened to a radio report about him today, I was remembering a t.v. show or two that I seem to have seen in my youth that featured him trying on various careers. Besides being a literary giant, he was quite a wit.
He was quite a guy. He boxed a round with Archie Moore, he played a (preseason)series at quarterback for the Detroit Lions, and he wrote about both experiences. He acted a lot. Last time I saw him on screen was during A&E’s Nero Wolfe series a year or so ago; he played a bunch of different recurring roles.
Plimpton also provided an authentically patrician voice to any number of Ken Burns documentaries.
I saw him at a 4th of July fireworks on the Thames River in Connecticut quite a few years ago. He really seemed to be having fun then, too.
I just love his story about meeting Bush. “He wanted to talk about Sidd Finch. I thought that was odd.”
Oh, and Donald O’Connor died, too:
https://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/27/obit.oconnor.ap/index.html
Damn, Matt, I hadn’t heard that one. I’d have thought it odd too.
Cassie, I heard Calvin Trillin talking about Plimpton, and I think I heard him say that Plimpton was unofficial impresario of fireworks for NY.