Newman?s legacy of greatness
Inter Lake editorial
The death of actor Paul Newman at the age of 83 signals the looming end of the era of the Hollywood greats ? the consummate professionals who made lasting art out of a lousy business and breathed life into the nation?s dreams, hopes and fears.
When Newman became a star at the end of the 1950s, America was a different place than it is today, and so was Hollywood. The faces on the ?big screen? then really were larger than life, and so were the stories they told. Today?s movies, in comparison seem small and pinched, as if America is afraid to dream anymore.
But the good news is we will have Newman?s work to remind us just how compelling movie-making can be, and just how smart an actor can be. ?Hud,? ?The Hustler,? ?Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,? ?Cool Hand Luke,? ?Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,? ?Nobody?s Fool? ? the list of his credits is like a string of pearls that each glistens with its own special magic.
In addition to his huge talent as an actor, Newman also displayed his greatness in his philanthropy and his exemplary marriage to actress Joanne Woodward. We can hope that his kind will some day return to Hollywood, but in the meantime we mourn his passing and note a significant loss.
IN A PERFECT world, everyone riding a bicycle or motorcycle would wear a helmet and never get injured. But as Justin Trodick well knows, a brain injury can happen even if you?re wearing all the right equipment and doing everything right.
Trodick recovered from a traumatic brain injury eight years ago when a deer jumped in front of his motorcycle. He now uses his experience to promote helmet safety to schoolchildren.
With his firsthand knowledge of what it?s like to survive a brain injury, his story is bound to make an impression on young people.
Kudos also are due to Kalispell Regional Medical Center?s trauma service department, which offers low-cost helmets and a couple of accident-prevention programs. As always, education is the key, and if any of these measures can save a life, they?re well worth it.
PETE SKIBSRUD thinks big ? so big in fact that he needs a bridge to get from one side of his dream to the next.
Not just any old bridge either. Skibsrud purchased the main section of Kalispell?s historic Old Steel Bridge, which is being replaced by a new span where it crosses the Flathead River.
The plan is to use the black metal bridge as part of a trail along the Stillwater River on property owned by Flathead Valley Community College behind Target and Hutton Ranch Plaza.
It?s a great idea we hope the community gets behind. There are plenty of obstacles to making it happen, but Skibsrud is determined and it looks like he just might get it done.
After all, without him the Old Steel Bridge would already be scrap metal headed for China.