Death and Paul Newman.

I heard that Paul Newman passed away on Friday

In no particular order, off the top of my head my top-five Paul Newman movies are:
- Butch Cassiday and the Sundance Kid
- The Hustler
- The Color of Money
- Cool Hand Luke
- Nobody’s Fool

If you haven’t heard about his death, then you’re a pop-culture retard. But, this entry isn’t about how great Paul Newman was, if you want that you can read it here, here or here.

Nope. This entry is about death.

When I heard Mr. Newman passed away, I read that he was surrounded by his family and close friends, including his wife of 50 years, actress Joanne Woodward.

What a crazy picture. Being surrounded by your sobbing, long-faced loved ones as you take in your last breath.

Seems a bit surreal if you ask me. Maybe it won't be, however, if/when I continue to get older.

Eventually, everyone we know is going to have to go through something exactly like this, including ourselves.

Knowing that we’re going to die. Knowing that the next breath may be our last.

When? Where? Why? How? Those are the unknown answers to this fascinating puzzle.

Hell, it’s what keeps me moving daily and trying to achieve my personal goals in life.

In a way, it’s frightening.

In a way, it’s a bit depressing.

In a way, I suppose it’s necessary.

I wonder what people discuss during that last hour in their life?

I wonder if you discuss your past, your childhood and your dreams that went unfulfilled?

I wonder if you talk about your past loves, your children growing up, all the different sights you’ve seen and witnessed while on this Earth?

I wonder what Paul Newman and his family were talking about that last hour before his death?

No one will really knows.

But I can bet you one thing.

Even though he was a major movie star, I’m 100% certain that it wasn’t about work.

Taking a Walk In The Woods with Redford.

When it comes to non-fiction books about hiking, hands-down my favorite book is Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods.

The book is a non-fiction, humorous account of Bryson and his chubby, alcoholic friend tackling the 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from from Georgia to Maine. Bryson highlights his hardships in an amusing, yet moving, way.

That said, today I came across a post on Slashfilm.com that announced Robert Redford will playing the role of Bill Bryson in the new movie adaptation of the book with Barry Levinson set to direct.

As the post states, Redford and Paul Newman were looking for a project to do together before they croaked. They both mentioned this movie as a possibility. Although it would be nice to see the duo from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid back in the theater, I have my reservations and think that they should look for a younger person to play Bryson's sidekick.

As far as Levinson is concerned, I'm a fan of his work including Diner, The Natural, Avalon, Bugsy, Wag the Dog and Bandits. He also produced the hit TV series Homicide: Life on the Streets. But, he's been known to make a couple stinkers as well including Toys and Sphere among others.

All in all, I think he's a great dialogue guy when it comes to direction and writing for males. That's why I think he's a good choice for this particular film.

On a personal note, a through-hike of the Appalachian Trail is considered a monumental achievement that's highly regarded in the hiking community. It's basically an investment of 3-8 months of your life, depending on how fast you can hike and how much you're carrying on your back.

Some hikers love the book. Other's hate it. All I can say is the book definitely motivated me to hike bits and pieces of the trail, with hopes of an eventual through-hike in my 50's or 60's.

If you haven't read A Walk in the Woods, I strongly recommend you pick it up and read it. You won't be sorry.

Now all we need is for someone to produce and direct The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, the Appalachian Trail-inspired horror novel from Stephen King.