One of the many wonderful things about working for, and becoming friends with, the late, great Victor Navasky were a) the stories he told you about other people, and b) getting the chance to meet and even sometimes becomes friends with those same people. The most important friend I made through Victor was Edgar Doctorow and that I am proud to say was a genuine friendship. The coolest “friends” I made through Victor, however, were Paul Newman and Robert Redford. They were “friends” of the sort that they could call me whenever they wanted and ask me stuff, and I would never call them except back. Perhaps I could have, but I didn’t. Anyway, I have a few stories; the first one is just Victor’s and predated my time at The Nation. The rest are mine.
1) So, Victor and Edgar were extremely close friends. Doctorow and Newman were also close friends and had even run a laundry service together in college. Doctorow was quite committed to The Nation and roped in Newman to be a significant contributor, as he was, famously, to so many worthy causes. One day Victor came home to a voicemail that he later related to me as follows:
“Hey Vic, Bob Redford here. So, Newman’s been on my ass forever to get me to give some dough to you guys, and I need to shut him up, so how would $100,000 a year for the next ten years be? [Long, long pause.] Yeah, so I guess this is just about the best phone message you’ve ever gotten.” (It was.)
2) I was hired at The Nation in 1995. Victor had kicked himself upstairs to be publisher and Katrina vanden Heuvel was now the editor. One of them called me—I had just moved back to NYC from DC—and said Redford was coming to the city and wanted to meet with Victor, Katrina and me. This was a shock to me because while they ran the magazine, I was just a columnist. But yeah, I could make myself available. Anyway, no meeting I have ever attended has been changed as many times as that one. (When I read a biography of Redford, I found that this happened a lot.) When it finally happened, Redford came in, by himself, hugged Victor and Katrina, telling them how happy he was to see them and then turned to me said to me, right away, “I am really happy to finally be meeting you.” And said something on the order of: “Um, yeah, me too.” Then Redford reached into his suit jacket and took out a letter he had written and said. “I recently wrote you a fan letter and I thought, instead of sending it, I would really like to just hand it to you.”
This was kind of amazing for two reasons. One, he had changed the time and place of the meeting like eleven times, and I really didn’t need to be there, but he knew I would be because he was Robert Redford and what other option did I have? But what was most important was the fact that he knew he’d be doing me an enormous favor by giving me that note in the presence of my two bosses, letting them know I had a fan in him. That was super thoughtful of him, and I always treasured the memory, though I’m not 100% sure I still have the letter, alas.
3) I was on panel at Sundance organized by the Center for American Progress in 2004, I think, and Bob came to the green room before the panel to talk politics with me, again, letting my bosses there know why he was there. He stayed for the panel and when it was over he asked me, all polite and such, asked if it would be ok if the next time he was in the city, he gave me call and could we meet to talk. I said yes, I thought that would probably be ok. Again, he did this for the assembled audience of my superiors. (Said meeting never did happen, however.)
4) Newman and Redford both used me on occasion to sound me out when they were gong to meet with politicians. Both guys acted weirdly shy and respectful in person as if I was the one doing them some big favor. But Redford did do me one more solid when I ran into him once at dinner show I had taken my dad to at the Café Carlyle. He just went on and on about how proud the old man should be to have raised a son like me, etc., etc., which, you know, was also pretty cool.
Anyway, the upshot: Robert Redford: Great actor; great philanthropist, but what I have to add here, is that he was also a really great guy.
Great story!
You have to find that letter…