Biography of a friendship

kw: book reviews, nonfiction, biographies, celebrities, actors, friendships

This was a wildcard selection for me; I seldom read biographies. Hank & Jim, by Scott Eyman, was too alluring to pass up. It chronicles 50 years of friendship between Henry Fonda and James Stewart.

Henry Fonda and James Stewart were opposites in some important ways: politically left vs right; Fonda marrying five times (and finally getting it right) and Stewart taking his time and hitting a home run on the first try; Fonda never giving up his first love of live theater but Steward gravitating almost exclusively to film, where together they dominated for decades.

Their similarities were sufficient to sustain a friendship in which they didn't need to talk about what was different. In fact, they were both introverted and "lived inside" much of the time and could spend tons of time together with little said, if anything. They both got their start in The University Players, though at different times and didn't meet until later. They soon became roomies, along with a few other close friends, during their "starving artist" years. They loved model airplanes (these were not the punch-out-and-glue kits, but the sort that yielded a room full of balsa wood shavings and could make you dizzy with glue fumes). They both enlisted during WWII, Fonda in the Navy and Stewart in the Army Air Corps; both were considered war heroes, they weren't just pretty faces that hung around the base. Stewart, in particular, remained active in the Reserves for years thereafter, retiring as a Brigadier General.

The book is really a triple biography, one for each man, and one for their bond. They spent years apart but always stayed in communication. Stewart was particularly solicitous during Fonda's last days, though he wasn't present for his final moments. Trying to think of a way to encapsulate the impression the book made on me, I find myself tongue-tied (metaphorically; "finger-tangled?"). It is a bittersweet book.

I find a further similarity they shared: they managed to keep at least some of their private lives out of the limelight. I am not sure how possible that would be today, now that the paparazzi are so much more aggressive (and deadly at times!), and are getting drones. But perhaps a couple of expert radio-control airplane aficionados could playfully engage in homemade anti-drone warfare!

The book is far from the fare I typically favor, but was quite enjoyable anyway. Like trying a new and very different restaurant, I got a nice surprise.