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53-413: The paper debuted under the name The News World and said it would provide an alternative to the existing New York dailies. The paper reached its peak circulation of 400,000 during the 1978 New York City newspaper strike , when some well-known reporters for papers closed by the strike wrote for it. But otherwise it failed to gain much traction with either readers or advertisers. By 1983, its circulation

106-587: A 1968 film starring Alan Alda . Plimpton revisited pro football in 1971, this time joining the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts and seeing action in an exhibition game against his previous team, the Lions. These experiences served as the basis of Mad Ducks and Bears (1973), although much of the book dealt with the off-field escapades and observations of football friends Alex Karras ("Mad Duck") and John Gordy ("Bear"). Plimpton's The Bogey Man (1968) chronicles his attempt to play professional golf on

159-538: A chevalier of the Legion of Honour , and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters . An oral biography, George, Being George was edited by Nelson W. Aldrich Jr. , and released on October 21, 2008. The book offers memories of Plimpton from Norman Mailer , William Styron , Gay Talese and Gore Vidal among other writers, and was written with the cooperation of both his ex-wife and his widow. Plimpton

212-647: A featurette about Sedgwick found on the Ciao! Manhattan DVD. He appeared in the PBS American Masters documentary on Andy Warhol and in the closing credits of the 2006 film Factory Girl . In 1998, Plimpton published an oral biography of Truman Capote . Between 2000 and 2003, he wrote the libretto to the opera Animal Tales , commissioned by Family Opera Initiative , with music by Kitty Brazelton and directed by Grethe Barrett Holby . He wrote, "I suppose in

265-454: A freelance writer. She is the daughter of James Chittenden Dudley, a managing partner of Manhattan-based investment firm Dudley and Company, and geologist Elisabeth Claypool. The Dudleys established the 36-acre (15 ha) Highstead Arboretum in Redding, Connecticut . Plimpton and Dudley were the parents of twin daughters Laura Dudley Plimpton and Olivia Hartley Plimpton. At Harvard, Plimpton

318-466: A major issue. More than 10,000 employees were either striking or out of work in support of one of the striking unions. During negotiations, Theodore W. Kheel served as an unofficial mediator between the two sides and played an important role the progress of the talks. On October 5, the Post resumed publication when Rupert Murdoch , its owner and publisher, signed an agreement with the pressmen; however,

371-405: A mild way there is a lesson to be learned for the young, or the young at heart – the gumption to get out and try one's wings". In 2002, Plimpton collaborated with Terry Quinn on Zelda, Scott and Ernest , a play based on the correspondence of F. Scott Fitzgerald , Zelda Fitzgerald and Hemingway. In 1989, Plimpton appeared in the documentary The Tightrope Dancer , about the life and the work of

424-405: A part of his 'Thing a Week' series, in tribute to Plimpton's many adventures and approach to life. Plimpton is the protagonist of the semi-fictional George Plimpton's Video Falconry , a 1983 ColecoVision game postulated by humorist John Hodgman and recreated by video game auteur Tom Fulp. Researcher and writer Samuel Arbesman filed with NASA to name an asteroid after Plimpton; NASA issued

477-503: A patient looks up at the masked surgeon about to operate on him and asks, "Wait a minute! How do I know you're not George Plimpton?" A feature in Mad titled "Some Really Dangerous Jobs for George Plimpton" spotlighted him trying to swim across Lake Erie , strolling through New York's Times Square in the middle of the night, and spending a week with Jerry Lewis . Plimpton was known for his distinctive accent which, by Plimpton's own admission,

530-478: A photographer's assistant. She was the daughter of writers Willard R. Espy and Hilda S. Cole, who had, earlier in her career, been a publicity agent for Kate Smith and Fred Waring . They had two children: Medora Ames Plimpton and Taylor Ames Plimpton, who has published a memoir entitled Notes from the Night: A Life After Dark . In 1992, Plimpton married Sarah Whitehead Dudley, a graduate of Columbia University and

583-529: A self-imposed ordeal that has the chilling quality of a true nightmare ... It is the dark side of the moon of Walter Mitty ." In 1963, Plimpton attended preseason training with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League as a backup quarterback , and he ran a few plays in an intrasquad scrimmage. These events were recalled in his best-known book, Paper Lion (1966), which was adapted as

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636-520: Is circulated primarily in the nation's capital. 1978 New York City newspaper strike The 1978 New York City newspaper strike ran from August 10 to November 5, 1978, a total of 88 days. It affected the New York City newspaper industry , shutting down all three of the city's major newspapers: The New York Times , New York Daily News , and the New York Post . The multi-union strike

689-475: The 1978 World Series . The Yankees organization at that time included several volatile personalities, including owner George Steinbrenner , oft-hired and fired manager Billy Martin , and slugger Reggie Jackson , and the battles among them had been receiving considerable media attention, particularly headlines in the News and the Post . Once the papers went on strike, it is said, the press distractions diminished and

742-400: The 33rd Governor of Massachusetts . Plimpton's son described him as a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant and wrote that both of Plimpton's parents were descended from Mayflower passengers. George had three siblings: Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton Jr., Oakes Ames Plimpton, and Sarah Gay Plimpton. After St. Bernard's School , Plimpton attended Phillips Exeter Academy (from which he

795-619: The 35th Governor of Massachusetts (1887–1890). She was also the great-granddaughter on her father's side of Oakes Ames (1804–1873), an industrialist and congressman who was implicated in the Crédit Mobilier railroad scandal of 1872; and Governor-General of New Orleans Benjamin Franklin Butler , an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as

848-606: The Boston Bruins , even playing part of a National Hockey League preseason game. Among other adventures, he attempted "acrobatics as an aerialist for the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus—he failed miserably". More happily, he tried "his hand as a percussionist with the New York Philharmonic (where a miss-hit on the gong earned him the immediate applause of conductor Leonard Bernstein )." In

901-663: The Daily News and the Times were still not being published. Murdoch's agreement essentially said that the Post would abide by whatever terms would be eventually worked out between the unions and the other two papers. The Post had been shut down for 56 days. During the outage, several strike papers popped into existence, being sold on newsstands and with bylines from the three regular papers; these included The City News , The New York Daily Press , and The New York Daily Metro . One existing paper that momentarily benefited during this time

954-428: The Daily News on November 6, 1978, after 88 days of non-production. The newspapers reached an agreement with the unions representing the pressmen. The agreement preserved 1,500 existing jobs of the pressmen, but allowed management to reduce staffing through attrition and elimination of some overtime. Upon finally reaching agreement, both acknowledged that compromises had been made and said there had been "no victors" in

1007-515: The National League . This experience was captured in Out of My League (1961). (He intended to face both line-ups, but tired badly and was relieved by Ralph Houk .) Plimpton sparred for three rounds with boxing greats Archie Moore and Sugar Ray Robinson while on assignment for Sports Illustrated . Hemingway praised Out of My League as "beautifully observed and incredibly conceived, his account of

1060-632: The PGA Tour during the Nicklaus and Palmer era of the 1960s. Among other challenges for Sports Illustrated , he attempted to play top-level bridge , and spent some time as a high-wire circus performer . Some of these events, such as his stint with the Colts, and an attempt at stand-up comedy, were presented on the ABC television network as a series of specials. Open Net (1985) saw him train as an ice hockey goalie with

1113-526: The Review . Plimpton was famous for competing in professional sporting events and then recording the experience from the point of view of an amateur. Per The New York Times , "As a 'participatory journalist,' Mr. Plimpton believed that it was not enough for writers of nonfiction to simply observe; they needed to immerse themselves in whatever they were covering to understand fully what was involved. For example, he believed that football huddles and conversations on

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1166-470: The United Nations , serving from 1961 to 1965. His mother was Pauline Ames, the daughter of botanist Oakes Ames (1874–1950) and artist Blanche Ames . Both of Plimpton's maternal grandparents were born with the surname Ames; his mother was the granddaughter of Medal of Honor recipient Adelbert Ames (1835–1933), an American sailor, soldier, and politician, and Oliver Ames , a US political figure and

1219-539: The "Spellympics" and attempts to bribe Lisa to lose with the offer of a scholarship at a Seven Sisters College and a hot plate: "it's perfect for soup!" A November 6, 1971, cartoon in The New Yorker by Whitney Darrow Jr. shows a cleaning lady on her hands and knees scrubbing an office floor while saying to another one: "I'd like to see George Plimpton do this sometime." In another cartoon in The New Yorker ,

1272-562: The 16th International Fireworks Festival in 1979 in Monte Carlo . After several problems with transporting and preparing the fireworks, Plimpton and Grucci became the first competitors from the United States to win the event. Plimpton was appointed Fireworks Commissioner of New York by Mayor John Lindsay , an unofficial post he held until his death. With the Grucci family, he helped choreograph

1325-659: The April 1, 1985, issue of Sports Illustrated , Plimpton pulled off a widely reported April Fools' Day prank. With the help of the New York Mets organization and several Mets players, Plimpton wrote an account of an unknown pitcher in the Mets spring training camp, Siddhartha Finch , who threw a baseball over 160 mph, wore a hiking boot on one foot, and was a practicing Buddhist who had studied yoga in Tibet . The article had many clues that

1378-630: The United States and the Democratic Party . The paper became known for promoting the views of conservatism in the United States in not just its editorial stances but its news coverage as well. Regardless of the changes, the paper still had economic troubles and suspended publication for several months during 1985. By 1990, its circulation was but 12,000, in comparison to four other New York daily papers each with circulation over 500,000. The New York City Tribune printed its last edition on January 3, 1991. Its sister paper, The Washington Times ,

1431-618: The artist Vali Myers. In 1994, Plimpton appeared in the Ken Burns series Baseball , sharing personal baseball experiences and commenting on memorable events from the history of the game. In 1996, he appeared in the documentary When We Were Kings , about the " Rumble in the Jungle ", the 1974 Ali-Foreman Championship fight. Plimpton credited Muhammad Ali as a poet who composed the world's shortest poem: "Me? Whee!!" Plimpton appeared in more than thirty films as an extra or in cameo appearances. He

1484-418: The bench constituted a 'secret world, and if you're a voyeur, you want to be down there, getting it firsthand'." He was influenced by Paul Gallico , about whom he said: "What Gallico did was to climb down out of the press box." In 1958, prior to a post-season exhibition game at Yankee Stadium between teams managed by Willie Mays (National League) and Mickey Mantle (American League), Plimpton pitched against

1537-515: The charm of reading about Mr. Plimpton's frequently hapless adventures as 'professional' athlete, stand-up comedian, movie bad guy or circus performer; which he chronicled in witty, elegant prose in nearly three dozen books." Plimpton was born in New York City on March 18, 1927, and spent his childhood there, attending St. Bernard's School and growing up in an apartment duplex on Manhattan's Upper East Side located at 1165 Fifth Avenue . During

1590-482: The fireworks for the 1983 Brooklyn Bridge Centennial Celebration and for the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan . Plimpton's passion for pyrotechnics led him to write Fireworks (1984), and he hosted an A&E Home Video on the subject, featuring his many fireworks adventures with the Gruccis. Plimpton and Jean Stein edited an oral biography of Edie Sedgwick , Edie: An American Biography (1982). He appeared in

1643-523: The literary journal The Paris Review , founded by Matthiessen, Thomas H. Guinzburg , and Harold L. Humes . This periodical has carried great weight in the literary world, but has never been financially strong; for its first half-century, it was allegedly largely financed by its publishers and by Plimpton. Matthiessen took the magazine over from Humes and ousted him as editor, replacing him with Plimpton, using it as his cover for Matthiessen's CIA activities. Jean Stein became Plimpton's co-editor. Plimpton

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1696-476: The longer term, the strike coincided with the advent of technological changes that initially took away the pressmen's jobs via newsroom automation and later undermined the economic model of the newspaper industry altogether. George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review , as well as his patrician demeanor and accent . He

1749-571: The next day at Good Samaritan Hospital . Plimpton died on September 25, 2003, in his New York City apartment from a heart attack later determined to have been caused by a catecholamine surge . He was 76. The annual "Amateur Backgammon championships" held in Las Vegas from 1978 onwards were called the Plimpton Cup . Plimpton was made an officier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and

1802-512: The outcome. In particular, it was not a clear victory for management as had happened with the end of the 1975–1976 Washington Post pressmen's strike , a result the unions were striving to avoid in this case. In the short term, the strike cost the newspapers an estimated $ 150 million in lost advertising and circulation revenue, while workers lost around $ 60 million in wages not earned (although union strike benefits and state unemployment insurance covered much of that for individual employees). In

1855-519: The story was a prank, starting with the subheading: "He's a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Impressively liberated from our opulent life-style, Sidd's deciding about yoga—and his future in baseball." This is an acrostic reading "Happy April Fools' Day—a(h) fib". The article was so convincing that many readers believed it, and the popularity of the prank led to Plimpton expanding on Sidd's story in The Curious Case of Sidd Finch (1987). Plimpton

1908-514: The strike, finding alternate ways to advertise their presence and offerings. What is sometimes claimed as an unanticipated consequence of the strike was the turnaround in the 1978 New York Yankees season . The team, who had been trailing the Boston Red Sox of that year by 14 games, turned things around in a late-season push and eventually won a dramatic tie-breaker game against the Red Sox and then

1961-407: The summers, he lived in the hamlet of West Hills, Huntington, Suffolk County on Long Island . He was the son of Francis T. P. Plimpton and the grandson of Frances Taylor Pearsons and George Arthur Plimpton . His father was a successful corporate lawyer and name partner of the law firm Debevoise and Plimpton ; he was appointed by President John F. Kennedy as U.S. deputy ambassador to

2014-447: The superiority regarding the graphics and sounds of Intellivision video games over the Atari 2600 . He hosted Mouseterpiece Theater , a Masterpiece Theatre spoof featuring Disney cartoon shorts. He had a recurring role as the grandfather of Dr. Carter on ER and was a cast member of Nero Wolfe (2001–02). In The Simpsons episode " I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can ", he hosts

2067-508: The team could focus on playing well. At the time, a Yankees representative noted that "We've heard that theory, but we started our winning streak when the papers were still publishing." The belief that the strike enabled the team's turnaround was still being given credit decades later; in 2018 longtime sportswriter and Red Sox historian Gordon Edes wondered if the newspaper strike had been a bigger villain than " Bucky Bleepin' Dent " for Red Sox fans. The Times resumed publication along with

2120-442: The witty accounts he wrote of his various madcap attempts to slip into other people's high-profile careers ... a lanky, urbane man possessed of boundless energy and perpetual bonhomie, became, in 1953, the first and only editor of The Paris Review. A ubiquitous presence at book parties and other gala social events, he was tireless in his commitment to the serious, contemporary fiction the magazine publishes ... All of this contributed to

2173-593: Was Unification Church -owned The News World , which had been launched in 1976 and reached its highest-ever circulation of 400,000 during the strike; some well-known reporters for the three closed papers wrote for it as well. Two months into the strike, a parody of The New York Times called Not The New York Times was distributed in the city, with contributors such as Carl Bernstein , Christopher Cerf , Tony Hendra , and George Plimpton . Contrary to initial expectations, New York businesses such as restaurants, theaters, hotels, and retail stores did not suffer during

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2226-657: Was a Bedouin in Lawrence of Arabia (1961), a thief in Rio Lobo (1970), Tom Hanks 's antagonistic father in Volunteers (1985) and a psychologist in Good Will Hunting (1997). Plimpton called himself "the Prince of Cameos." He also appeared in television commercials in the early 1980s, including a memorable campaign for Mattel 's Intellivision . In this campaign, Plimpton touted

2279-456: Was a classmate and close personal friend of Robert F. Kennedy . Plimpton, along with former decathlete Rafer Johnson and American football star Rosey Grier , was credited with helping wrestle Sirhan Sirhan to the floor when Kennedy was assassinated following his victory in the 1968 California Democratic primary at the former Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California . Kennedy died

2332-472: Was a demolitions expert in the post– World War II Army. After returning to New York from Paris, he routinely launched fireworks at his evening parties. His fireworks fascination flourished, and in 1975, in Bellport, Long Island , with Fireworks by Grucci , he attempted to break the record for the world's largest firework. His firework, a Roman candle named "Fat Man", weighed 720 pounds (330 kg) and

2385-502: Was also an accomplished birdwatcher . Plimpton's studies at Harvard were interrupted by military service from 1945 to 1948, during which time he served in Italy as an Army tank driver. After finishing at Harvard in 1950, he attended King's College, Cambridge , from 1950 to 1952, and graduated with third class honors in English. In 1952, Plimpton was recruited by Peter Matthiessen to join

2438-679: Was around 70,000. In 1983, the paper changed its name to the New York Tribune as part of a "metamorphosis" that nonetheless retained the same ownership and essentially the same staff. This brought a lawsuit on copyright grounds from International Herald Tribune , which had inherited the 'Tribune' name from the original New-York Tribune . The matter was resolved in 1984 when the paper added 'City' to its name. The new paper carried an expansive "Commentary" section of opinions and editorials, designed, it said, to showcase "syndicated columnists and outraged citizens" in opposition to liberalism in

2491-715: Was associated with the Paris literary magazine Merlin , which folded because the State Department withdrew its support. Future Poet Laureate Donald Hall , who had met Plimpton at Exeter, was Poetry Editor. One of the magazine's most notable discoveries was author and screenwriter Terry Southern , who was living in Paris at the time and formed a lifelong friendship with Plimpton, along with writer Alexander Trocchi and future classical and jazz pioneer David Amram . In 1958, he published an influential article about Vali Myers . That same year, Plimpton interviewed Ernest Hemingway for

2544-465: Was expected to rise to 1,000 feet (300 m) or more and deliver a wide starburst. When lit, the firework remained on the ground and exploded, blasting a crater 35 feet (11 m) wide and 10 feet (3.0 m) deep. A later attempt, fired at Cape Canaveral , rose approximately 50 feet (15 m) into the air and broke 700 windows in Titusville, Florida . With Felix Grucci , Plimpton competed in

2597-776: Was expelled just shy of graduation), and Daytona Beach High School , where he received his high school diploma, before entering Harvard College in July 1944. He wrote for the Harvard Lampoon , was a member of the Hasty Pudding Club , Pi Eta, the Signet Society, and the Porcellian Club and majored in English. Plimpton entered Harvard as a member of the Class of 1948, but did not graduate until 1950 due to intervening military service. He

2650-507: Was known for " participatory journalism ," including accounts of his active involvement in professional sporting events, acting in a Western , performing a comedy act at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and playing with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and then recording the experience from the point of view of an amateur. Per The New York Times , his "exploits in editing and writing seesawed between belles lettres and

2703-423: Was led by pressmen and halted production of the three papers, with no editions being published since August 9, 1978. Other unions who walked out included those for machinists, paperhandlers, truck mechanics, and drivers. The strike occurred due to the three newspapers each issuing new work rulings which significantly decreased requirements concerning the level of staffing. Unlike many strikes, wage levels were not

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2756-408: Was often mistaken for an English accent. Plimpton himself described it as a "New England cosmopolitan accent" or "Eastern seaboard cosmopolitan" accent. His son, Taylor, described it as a mixture of "old New England, old New York, tinged with a hint of King's College King's English ." Plimpton was married twice. His first wife, whom he married in 1968 and divorced in 1988, was Freddy Medora Espy,

2809-481: Was the subject of the American Masters documentary Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself . In it the writer James Salter said of Plimpton that "he was writing in a genre that really doesn't permit greatness." The film used archival audio and video of Plimpton lecturing and reading to create a posthumous narration. In 2006, the musician Jonathan Coulton wrote the song entitled "A Talk with George",

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