His spirit can again take flight

After a year of insurmountable grief, John Travolta is back at work.

He took most of last year off to mourn the death of his 16-year-old son Jett, who died Jan. 2, 2009, of a seizure at the family’s vacation home in the Bahamas.

Now he’s returned in “From Paris With Love,” a fast-paced spy movie co-starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Q: So many people felt pain for you – even people who have never met you. What does that say about the kindness of strangers?

A: Oh, I’ve never seen anything like it. … I’ve never felt more of a flow of support and love as I have in the past year and we needed it. … You’re kind of a sinking ship and you need all the king’s horses and all the king’s men to keep your head afloat. And we had it.

Q: And you’re doing OK?

A: It’s been hard. We’ve worked every day on it as a family and as individuals. It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me – bar none. But I think the help is helping us.”

Q: John, you recently flew a plane of supplies to Haiti to help earthquake victims. Does helping others with loss help ease some of your own pain?

A: Absolutely. I think help is probably the biggest button on the planet. People need to help each other. They want to feel like they can help and when you have the opportunity I think most people do help and I had this rare, rare privilege to have this big, empty plane in my backyard and I filled it with supplies and doctors and it was an awesome opportunity.

The birthday bunch

Composer-conductor John Williams is 78. Newsman Ted Koppel is 70. Actor Nick Nolte is 69. Comedian Robert Klein is 68. Actress Brooke Adams is 61. Actress Mary Steenburgen is 57. Author John Grisham is 55. Singer Vince Neil (Motley Crue) is 49. Actor Gary Coleman is 42. Actress Mary McCormack is 41. Actor Seth Green is 36.