Far from Hollywood, a legacy of compassion

HARTFORD, Conn. – Paul Newman broached the subject of his philanthropic legacy several years ago while fishing with friends Robert Forrester and David Horvitz off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Even though he was a Hollywood icon – a 10-time Academy Award nominee known for his performances in such classic films as “Cool Hand Luke” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” – it was a rare moment in which Newman reflected on how he would be remembered after his death, Horvitz recalled Sunday.

“Most of the time he didn’t think about legacy,” he said. “He was pretty much in the moment.”

But Newman, who died Friday of cancer at age 83, told the men he wanted to be remembered for the “Hole in the Wall” camps he helped to start across the world for children with life-threatening illnesses and to make sure that 100 percent of the profits from his popular food company, Newman’s Own, would continue to benefit such camps and thousands of other charities.

Horvitz is chairman of the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, which has 11 camps. Newman told him he had been lucky in life, born with piercing blue eyes and a gift for acting, and how it was unfair that so many innocent children were unlucky to have been burdened with devastating diseases such as AIDS or leukemia.

“He felt a need and an obligation to try to give back,” Horvitz said.

In 1982, Newman and writer A.E. Hotchner started Newman’s Own to market Newman’s original oil-and-vinegar dressing. It began as a joke and grew into a multimillion-dollar business.

Newman and his food company have given more than $250 million to charities over the years. Last year, $28 million from the sale of pasta sauces, salad dressings, popcorn and other products was distributed to a variety of social causes, including the Safe Water Network, which Newman helped start to provide safe drinking water to impoverished communities in places like India and Africa.

Until two years ago, Newman personally distributed the company’s profits. But he and Forrester set up the private, independent Newman’s Own Foundation to carry on the work.

“Really, everything is in great shape,” Forrester said of the foundation and the company after Newman’s death.

At Forrester’s request, Newman came up with what he wanted the Newman’s Own company – he hated the word “brand” – to stand for. Newman listed quality food; fair labor practices; a mission focused on philanthropy, not profit; and an open environment in the workplace, not a bureaucratic one.

Forrester said Newman’s friends at Newman’s Own – some who have worked there from the early days of the company – plan to look for ways to expand the business in order to carry out the actor’s wishes and give away even more money.

“We’re stewards of this legacy,” he said.