The George Plimpton Story

By his own admission, not a great businessman, but I think fits within the HN world for thinking creatively outside the box. He ran the Paris Review at a loss, but was trying to change the world by discovering new important authors. Also, writing about and participating in sports like boxing and hockey were, at the time, well outside the norms for those of his social status and upbringing.

From the article I still have some doubts, but was this the guy who hosted Mouseterpiece Theatre? If so, I always loved that guy. I'm going to go watch old Disney cartoons from the 50's on youtube now.

I mostly remember George Plimpton from the Mattel Intellivision TV commercials when I was a child. I didn't fully grasp exactly who he was until I was older.

The Plimpton Project sponsored a song contest to raise awareness of George Plimpton and their efforts to raise a statue in his honor.

The winning entry: Jonathan Coulton "A Talk with George" https://youtu.be/-YMcqNc4nSY?t=1h33m20s

ref:

- http://thingaweekredux.com/post/3564224482/thing-a-week-23-a...

- http://www.plimptonproject.org/ (warning, flash site)

There is a fun look at George Plimpton in My Korean Deli, by Ben Ryder Howe who worked at the Paris Review. It was a fun read beyond that too, and it will show you a different (less ambitious and less successful) view of entrepreurship than you generally see on HN.

https://www.amazon.com/My-Korean-Deli-Risking-Convenience/dp...

Edit: Formatting.

I drew strange, mostly scornful looks in junior high study hall by laughing at loud over Paper Lion.

His Mid-Atlantic accent always confused me as to where he was born and raised I never would have guessed it was NY City.