Norman Lear was a guest in our family home on more than one occasion when he and his crew were filming ‘Cold Turkey.’ It was 1970, and the film location was set in Greenfield. My dad was a columnist for The Des Moines Tribune and wrote about Lear, Dick Van Dyke, and others involved in the production.
As a 20-year-old budding feminist, I recall being seated next to Lear on the pink-covered, overstuffed sofa in my parent’s living room, where I challenged him on women’s rights issues. Oh boy, do I wish I could remember what he said. I do recall the twinkle in his eye during our dialogue, or rather, my rant.
A year later, 13 of us college kids too off in a school bus retrofitted by fellow student John Schuler, and we spent a month traveling the western United States, visiting people and organizations involved in social change. Miraculously, we earned college credit for the adventure.
Our travels included meeting Cesar Chavez, during the lettuce boycott, Big Sur’s Esalen Institute, and we visited communes in California. We also made a stop to visit Norman Lear in his Burbank office, where he spotted me $50, which my father repaid him. There we were, a gaggle of college students, plus my dog, Krishna - a Collie/German Shepard/Beagle mix - talking with Norman Lear about social change.
Lear was an American screenwriter and producer who wrote, created or had a hand in over 100 shows, including groundbreaking and edgy, All in the Family, Maude, Sanford, and Son, One Day at a Time, and The Jeffersons.
Lear kept in touch with several Iowans throughout the years. Author and poet Jim Autry served with him on the board of ‘People for the American Way.”
Des Moines clothier Bill Reichardt and his wife, Sue, kept in touch with Lear through the years (Reichardt had a small role in Cold Turkey).
In the early 1980s, I had a weekly TV show on a local access cable television channel. I’d be surprised if the audience reached 100 viewers, but it was good practice. I had a horrible fear of public speaking and asked a television director for WHO-TV at the time, to help me to combat my nervousness.
His advice? When the red light of the camera comes on, just remind myself: No one is watching.
I knew Bill Reichardt’s 50th birthday was coming up, so I invited him to come on my show and talk about his life. Unbeknownst to him, I reached out to Norman Lear and asked him to make an unannounced, surprise appearance.
There we were, in the midst of our conversation about the clothing business in Des Moines, when I told Bill we had a little surprise for him for his birthday…out strolled Norman Lear, who had come to Des Moines to attend Reichardt’s birthday party, as a surprise.
Oh, how I wish I had a tape of that show.
Norman Lear died last night, surrounded by family, at the age of 101.
What a legacy. What a giver. What a citizen.
He touched millions of lives. Mine, being just one.
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Great reflection on Norman Lear, Julie! I only vaguely remembered that you knew him. What memories! Maybe best of all, you, your dog & a busload of you college hippies showing up at his Burbank office. He probably told that story the rest of his life!
Wonderful story!