Norman Lear: If I Were to Tweet, I'd Ask...

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If I were to tweet, I'd ask...

Why did Tom Cruise elect to fly to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to praise Wal-Mart at its annual shareholders' meeting? It might not occur to me to wonder if Mr. Cruise had been paid for his appearance, but the Times specifically said he was not. Clearly, Tom was there because he cared, and that fills me with wonder. With all there is to care about in this world, why does a star of Tom Cruise's magnitude choose to hie off to a remote land to say nice things about a group of stores he isn't likely to be caught alive in? With all there is to care about in this world, why do I care enough to raise the question?

If I were to tweet as I react to the news I read every morning, my daily tweet would provide the answer: "Beats the shit out of me."

Get Alerts If I were to tweet, I'd ask... Why did Tom Cruise elect to fly to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to praise Wal-Mart at its annual shareholders' meeting? It might not occur to me to wonder if Mr. Cruise had ... If I were to tweet, I'd ask... Why did Tom Cruise elect to fly to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to praise Wal-Mart at its annual shareholders' meeting? It might not occur to me to wonder if Mr. Cruise had ...

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Norman Lear: Goodbye, Edith Darling

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This will be short and sweet. Never as sweet as I'd wish it to be if I took a month to write it. I only just learned that Jean Stapleton, our beloved Edith -- or Edith, our beloved Jean Stapleton -- has passed.

Back in 1971, possibly the first time I was asked by a journalist "What is Jean Stapleton like?", my reflexive response was: "She's always where she is." I was surprised by my answer; I'd never had the thought before and never knew it resided within me. Can I reach deeply enough inside me now to express how much that, the idea and Jean Stapleton herself, has meant to me?

I was at my computer when her glorious children, John and Pam, phoned me, and I told them I was working on my memoir, and reflecting on the time I was a gone-to-work father to my personal family on Mooncrest Drive while also fathering Archie and Edith and three other families on CBS. And I added -- so, at 90, here still is Jean Stapleton, "always where she is," helping me to see my own frailties and humanity yet again. No one gave more profound "How to be a Human Being" lessons than Jean Stapleton. Goodbye, Edith darling.

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