Lyn Lear has a favourite “Normanism” — the term coined to explain the late TV legend Norman Lear‘s various adages, sayings and maxims about life. For Lyn, it was each time Norman would offer his farewells by saying, “To be continued.”
“It’s when people would depart, because he at all times desired to see them again,” she says. “I like that concept of things continuing and growing and recuperating. That’s what I believe he meant by that term.”
Lyn Lear is currently compiling all of Norman Lear’s most memorable quotes and philosophies about life for a book that she hopes to publish in the following yr. “Norman had written his memoirs [2014’s ““Even This I Get to Experience”], but he at all times wanted to jot down a book on his philosophy of life,” she says. “He had these wonderful Nomanisms like ‘over, next.’ As in, ‘when it’s over, it’s over, you gotta move on to next.’ There have been so lots of those, and so I’ve written all of them down.”
She says the book will capture her 40-year relationship with Lear (they met in 1984 and married in 1987) along with his impact on the world. “We bonded on a really spiritual but political level around freedom of speech,” she says. “And so I’m attempting to put that together in a type of memoir, autobiography, but in addition biography of Norman. He was a really deeply spiritual man. He was a cultural Jew to the core, but he was really open to searching on all different levels. He was such man, did good on the earth, and cared about giving back. It’ll be one other yr or so, but I’m attempting to to reflect a few of his legacy in that on this book.”
It’s been nearly a yr since Norman Lear died in December 2023 on the age of 101. Now, Lyn Lear is busy keeping the spirit of her late husband alive by remaining energetic in a few of the causes that meant essentially the most to him. That features the Sentinel Awards, an annual event that recognizes programs that feature meaningful storylines on critical topics.
Lyn Lear is about to talk at this yr’s Sentinel Awards, that are administered by Hollywood, Health & Society, a program of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center. Laraine Newman, certainly one of the unique “Saturday Night Live” forged members, will host this yr’s ceremony, which takes place on Thursday, Oct. 24 on the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” is about to be honored for its entire body of labor while other shows to be recognized include Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show,” for its discussion on abortion, NBC’s “Lopez vs. Lopez” for tackling addiction, Fox’s “The Simpsons” for taking a look at wealth disparity, Max’s “Hacks” for touching on the climate crisis, AMC’s “Dark Winds” for its story give attention to racism in healthcare, ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” on taking over the risks of smoking and vaping, and more.
“I like all the pieces to do with the Lear Center and what they’re doing,” she says. “And I believe the Sentinel Awards are only so essential. Norman and I, certainly one of our big issues we talked about on a regular basis was how media can affect behavior and influence people’s lives…. Despite the fact that it looks as if an obvious and lightweight issue, I believe it’s much more essential today than ever before.”
Last yr’s Sentinel Awards took place the day after Norman Lear’s death, turning the event right into a tribute to him. “He was such a tremendous man and so beloved, not only for his creativity, but for who he was as a human being,” Lyn Lear says. “He really cared about people and about this world and about what America stands for. He got here from a spot of trusting the goodness of humanity and human beings.”
Lyn Lear says it’s been a “whirlwind of a yr” following her husband’s passing. Within the weeks and months that followed, their daughter Madelaine was married, followed by their son Ben, who later became a father, while the Lears’ daughter Brianna got engaged.
“It’s been busy, and I feel like he’s up there pulling strings, because so many things have been happening,” she says. “You miss that humanity and love that you are feeling from the person, but it’s all carrying on in our family and within the things that he created. So we’re struggling, but we’re doing our greatest.”
