Plimpton death notice

September 26, 2003 9:39 AM

The Paris Review Editor in Chief George Plimpton dead at 76.
posted by lilboo (10 comments total)

One of my favorite Plimpton memories is of seeing him and Norman Mailer ringside at Muhammad Ali's Zaire Rumble in the Jungle in "When We Were Kings." Ali rope-a-dopes George Foreman, and then comes back with an amazing punch. The camera cuts to Plimpton and Mailer ringside, mouths dropped open like cartoon characters. There was never a better example of how stunning that moment was.
posted by GaelFC at 9:56 AM on September 26, 2003

Plimpton is indeed a central figure in post-WWII American culture: whether he was writing about other writers or sports heroes, editing an exceptionally good, elegant literary quarterly or doing his incredible brand of "participatory journalism" reporting, he was always a joy to read

and of course he also created the coolest April fools prank ever -- "The curious Case of Sidd Finch", (Sidd as in Siddharta), the greatest baseball pitcher ever: first published in Sports Illustrated, then in book form

Plimpton was working on his memoir, too bad he didn't have the time to finish it. what an amazing life. Muhammad Ali, to make fun of Plimpton's accent and upperclass background, called him "Kennedy". I've always liked his sense of not taking himself too seriously, the happiness he enjoyed as a lucky dilettante of all those different activities

a sad, sad day for American culture

"The one participatory piece I still want to write is about outer space, of course. I want to go up before I pass away. I want a poet to go up too - WS Merwin, perhaps. John Ashbery. Updike. Maybe me. They need a good chronicler to write about what it really feels like to be up there. I live in hope."
posted by matteo at 10:26 AM on September 26, 2003

There doesn't appear to be a transcript of it available, but he was absolutely fabulous in The Cheese Game commercial on Saturday Night Live.
posted by mmascolino at 11:02 AM on September 26, 2003

And Somewhere Websters Dad Cries...

btw The Paper Lion Rules ;/

Godspeed George, Godspeed...
posted by Dreamghost at 11:18 AM on September 26, 2003

The NYTimes obit is up. Includes a great story about performing at the Apollo on amateur night.
posted by lilboo at 11:53 AM on September 26, 2003

I can never forgive him for asking lisa to throw the spelling bee.
posted by drezdn at 12:47 PM on September 26, 2003

everyone please stop dying
posted by muckster at 12:50 PM on September 26, 2003

Anyone else remember him as the host of Disney Channel's "Mousterpiece Theater"? Anyone?
posted by condour75 at 1:57 PM on September 26, 2003

I'll never forget him uttering the line "He's a boob! It's a celebration of boobery!" in the otherwise negligible "EdTV".
posted by John Shaft at 5:28 PM on September 26, 2003

Dreamghost, you were pretty much right:

"I am deeply saddened by the death of my friend George Plimpton," former defensive tackle Alex Karras said in a statement. "And I am very grateful that we were able to share the Paper Lions' reunion last weekend as co-captains of the Detroit Lions.

"George was a 'gentleman' in the truest sense of the word -- loyal, funny, a good friend.

"He was my hero and I will miss him."

posted by pmurray63 at 12:41 AM on September 28, 2003