Yeah, he will be missed.
I met him one day a few years back because he bought a house near the Kansas Speedway so that he would have a private place to stay while at the races.
It is an old farm and the caretaker deals in vintage tractors, so I stopped in there to look at a Massey-Harris that caretaker had for sale.
There were two guys working on the tractor up to their elbows in grease and each with a beer.
We started chatting and they offered me a beer which I gratefully accepted as it was hotter than the West side of Hell that day and then it dawned on me..........................................
OMFG!
The guy who handed me the beer was Mr. Newman!
I was more than a bit startled and he got a kick out of it, so we worked on the tractor for a while, got it running and then the three of us just stood around chatting for an hour or so until the burgers and dogs on the grill were done.
Mr. Newman really was "one of the guys" and it took me quite a while to start thinking of him as a man who at that time was in his mid-70s.
Sure didn't act like it and looked much younger than he did in "Perdition".
A day I will never forget.
