Hollywood legend, philanthropist, race car driver and founder of Newman’s Own Natural Foods, Paul Newman was a man who made a fortune just to give it away.

He had a crazy idea about marketing an all natural vinegar and oil salad dressing. It was so unique for the time, it was laughed about. Essentially done on a total lark, mainly because his friends LOVED Newman's salad dressing, something funny happened that no one was laughing about. It began to sell. And sell it did! Other products came soon after, like popcorn and salsa, and they were all made with natural ingredients. Within a few years, Newman's Own products were being sold nationwide. You could make a case that these products, inspired by an idea from Paul Newman, jump started the natural/organic wave of foods available today. 

That’s all fine and well, but now Mr. Newman had another problem; what to do with all of this extra money? Well, Paul Newman decided to begin a project for kids with life threatening illnesses called The Hole in the Wall Camps, where a kid could just be a kid for 10 days, forget about their problems and keep smiling the whole time.

Funded entirely by Newman’s Own products, it became a huge success that allowed kids from all over the country to forget their illnesses and maybe for the first time, live with no worries. Newman himself used to wander into camp for breakfast or dinner, just to see how things were going, not really caring if anyone knew who he was. In fact, one story goes that, dressed in scruffy jeans and a shirt, he came in to eat and randomly picked a table to sit at. The kid next to him stared briefly at Paul and finally said, “Hey Mister, are you lost or something?” not having a clue as to who this older man could possibly be!

He was also part-owner of a car racing team, and I know your first thought is how could that at all be anything close to green? He owns Indy Cars, which are open wheel racers, one of the most technologically advanced cars in the world, and they all run on 100% sustainable ethanol fuel.

There are few people I personally idolize, my father being one, John Lennon another, and then Paul Newman. He could have done anything he wanted to, but he gave it all back.  To you, to me, to the kids, to the world. It was his way of saying thanks, but it should be us saying thanks for being the person with the foresight and ideas to make this a better world.

The great actress Sally Fields said, “Sometimes God makes perfect people, and Paul Newman was one of them.”  I could not have said that better myself.

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