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Overview
On February 13, 1991, at the age of seventy-four, Kirk Douglas, star of such major motion-picture classics as Champion, Spartacus, and Paths of Glory, was in a helicopter crash, in which two people died and he himself sustained severe back injuries. As he lay in the hospital recovering, he kept wondering: Why had two younger men died while he, who had already lived his life fully, survived?
The question drove this son of a Russian-Jewish ragman to a search for his roots and on a long journey of self-discovery -- a quest not only for the meaning of life and his own relationship with God, but for his own identity as a Jew. Through the study of the Bible, Kirk Douglas found a new spirituality and purpose. His newfound faith deeply enriched his relationship with his own children and taught him -- a man who had always been famously demanding and impatient -- to listen to others and, above all, to hear his own inner voice.
Told with warmth, wit, much humor, and deep passion, Climbing the Mountain is inspirational in the very best sense of the word.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780743214384 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date: | 10/27/2001 |
| Sold by: | SIMON & SCHUSTER |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 272 |
| File size: | 354 KB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Chapter 2
Ushi had seen the whole thing. She had witnessed David and Lee's fiery death, and she stood frozen by the side of the runway. One of the blades ripped from the helicopter by the impact had flown toward her, crashing into and damaging a parked plane near where she was standing, but she hadn't noticed.
Wanting to help me get out of the wreckage, she ran through the falling fiery debris, not hearing someone screaming, "Get away, it's gonna blow!" She scrambled helplessly to the top of the overturned helicopter to reach the door, the engine still running and leaking fuel. Finally, the warnings penetrated: "Get away, it's gonna blow."
The person screaming at her was a flight mechanic named Darryl who had been working in a nearby hangar. He ran toward the wreckage. Unlike Ushi, who was oblivious to the dangers, Darryl, a former medic who served in Vietnam, knew that the helicopter could blow at any moment. Yet he risked his life to save perfect strangers. Now that's a hero.
Darryl passed Mike, the copilot, who had been thrown free from the wreckage and was crawling away, and reached into the cockpit -- past the bleeding and badly injured Noel -- and turned off the motor.
Atop the helicopter Ushi looked down into the carcass of the passenger compartment. She could see me huddled in a heap at the bottom, one side of my face covered with blood. Her first thought was that I was dead.
Often, when I am asked about the accident today, people want to know what I experienced at that moment. Did I see a long tunnel with a blazing white light at the other end? Sorry, I saw and heard nothing. If it was there, I missed the show.
They tell me that within minutes policemen, firemen and ambulances converged, and that I was moaning, "My back, my back." Fearing a spine injury, the firemen had to strap me to a backboard before they could lift me out of the wreckage. In such a small space, they had to lower one of their buddies upside down, holding him by the legs so that he could strap me up properly.
While they were working on this awkward task, Ushi called my wife.
Anne was in her office finishing up her work. We had a dinner date with friends that night, and she still had to have her hair and nails done. The phone rang.
"Don't worry, Anne," Ushi reported breathlessly. "There was a helicopter crash, but Kirk is all right. He just has some cuts on his face and probably a couple ribs are broken."
To Ushi, what she was saying was great news. Only minutes before she thought I was dead. In comparison, a few broken ribs were nothing.
Meanwhile, Anne pictured me as a bleeding and broken mess. She was in shock but pulled herself together and called our son Peter and Eric. She didn't want them to hear it from the new media. And, sure enough, as she was talking to the boys, TV and newspaper reporters were already calling on the other line.
Peter and Eric quickly met her at the office, where the prepared to drive up to Santa Paula, a two-hour ride. Panic-stricken, Peter called the police to ask for an escort to get the more quickly. He was told that would not help -- rush hour had started, and traffic north of Los Angeles was already bumper to bumper. At the same airport where our helicopter had been scheduled to land, he got a helicopter to fly the three of them to the Santa Paula Memorial Hospital.
I have no remembrance of being pulled out of the wreckage put in an ambulance and brought to the emergency room. I have no recollection of X rays, CAT scans and the doctors' examinations. They tell me that when the radiologist said, "We have to roll you over," I muttered, "I don't think I'm gonna like it," and the people in the emergency room laughed. But I don't remember any of that.
The first thing I do remember is looking up and seeing my wife's eyes staring at me. This was three hours later. I have no memory of the time in between, even though they tell me I was fully conscious.
The next thing I remember was that they wheeled me in a gurney and put me in a helicopter -- just what I needed, another ride in a helicopter! But Anne wanted to move me to our hospital near Beverly Hills, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Anne and Eric came with me, along with a young woman doctor. I couldn't have been that bad off -- I remember that she was very pretty.
I don't know how they got me into intensive care at Cedars. Vaguely, I was aware of flashbulbs going off -- the media were doing their job. Then a blur of more X rays, tests, CAT scans. And finally I was left alone in my room.
Now the medication was wearing off and the pain was growing stronger. My back hurt like hell. I couldn't move in any direction. Trying to lift up my head was agonizing. I just lay there, feeling sorry for myself.
And then the young woman doctor told me off. "You are lucky, Kirk. Pain means you're not paralyzed. Be happy you can feel things." Before I could react, she added, "The people in the plane are dead."
That's how I found out that David and Lee had died. For the first time I heard their names. Somewhere out there, not too many miles from where I lay, the lives of people who loved then were forever changed . . . and now mine had as well.
Copyright © 1997 by The Bryna Company
Interviews
On September 22, 1997, barnesandnoble.com on AOL welcomed Kirk Douglas, one of Hollywood's most enduring stars, to discuss his book, CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN: MY SEARCH FOR MEANING, recounting his quest for spiritual meaning and his discovery of a new sense of identity in his Jewish heritage. Douglas has also written his first book for children, a Holocaust story, THE BROKEN MIRROR.
JainBN: Welcome, Mr. Douglas, and thank you for joining us tonight. It's a thrill to have you here!
Kirk Douglas: I have never done this before, and I am thrilled to have this experience.
JainBN: Well, let's put you in the throes of it. Ready for the first question?
Kirk Douglas: Yes. Fire away.
Question: Why do you think you abandoned Judaism in your teens? Was there an event in your life that made it relevant?
Kirk Douglas: Because at that time Judaism relied more on ritual and not on meaning. Now, by studying the Torah, which is the Bible, I have a deeper appreciation of religion, and I think that applies to all religions: Jewish, Christian, or Moslem.
Question: How did you come up with the titles for your books? What inspired you?
Kirk Douglas: CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN -- it seemed to me that all of life is climbing a mountain, and everybody must try to climb it the best way they can, but no matter what route you take, we all arrive at the same destination. BROKEN MIRROR was easier, because the story is about a broken mirror.
Question: Are you continuing on with your studies of the Torah?
Kirk Douglas: Yes. And I love the new insights. I recommend everyone read their Bible.
Question: What do you think about what is going on in Israel now? Do you think there will be any peace?
Kirk Douglas: I think what's going on in Israel is tragic, but more tragic is the fact that what's going on there could happen here. Suicide bombers will reach out in different directions, and this troubles me very much. I hope there will be peace, but I don't see it in the near future.
Question: Could you tell us a little bit about the work you do rebuilding playgrounds in L.A.? How did you come up with that idea, and where will your next project be?
Kirk Douglas: My wife came up with that idea. She read an article about the deplorable state of the playgrounds in the schools of L.A. She decided to do something about it, and she has. Each school must cooperate with the donation rules set up by the school district, and they decide the best candidates.
Question: Hi, Mr. Douglas. Do you have a favorite book or verse of the Old Testament?
Kirk Douglas: King David's 23rd Psalm: "The Lord is my Shepherd...." Everyone knows it. And the quote from Moses: "Choose Life."
Question: I'm happy to find you online, Mr. Douglas! How is your health these days?
Kirk Douglas: Not bad. I can play nine holes of golf.
Question: Was it a fear of death -- your helicopter crash and your stroke -- that brought you back to Judaism?
Kirk Douglas: As I explain in my book, it was my helicopter crash that made me hungry for...spirituality. And I started to study Torah, or the Bible.
Question: You've written about the recent growth of your religious faith and how much it has brought you into a closer connection to your family and ultimately heightened your appreciation for life. What parallels can you draw between that experience and the stage?
Kirk Douglas: The stage is make-believe. God is reality. But one of my teachers, Rabbi Aaron, says that the play is written, and we are here to decide which part we will play: the hero, the villain, the bystander. This is the meaning of free will. And the difference between fate and choice.
Question: What's the greatest gift you've been able to share as a performer/storyteller?
Kirk Douglas: That God always gives you a second chance.
Question: Harrison Ford recently said that acting for him was a craft, a technical process, not an art. I think acting can be art when the actor's imagination informs his craft. How do you see your own work?
Kirk Douglas: Everything in life can be an art. It's the way you approach it. Of course, there is always a technique or craft in anything we do, but when you do something with your whole heart, it's art.
Question: You've always had great physical presence on screen. Is movement and energy something you've consciously developed in your technique, or would you say it's more of an unconscious gift of yours? Are acting and dance at their root the same for you?
Kirk Douglas: Energy is something that I was born with; I don't think I could acquire it. I always liked to dance, and I think physical movement plays a great part in acting.
Question: What do you feel are the qualities that make Stanley Kubrick such a great director?
Kirk Douglas: He has a God-given talent.
Question: For the benefit of those seeking a career in acting, what do you feel are the greatest rewards of the acting profession?
Kirk Douglas: I never encouraged anyone to go into my profession, because it is so difficult. I tried to keep my son Michael out of it, so you see how wrong I can be. The reward is getting a great part and doing it well. And a great part is getting into the mind of a great character.
Question: Do you and your son Michael have any plans to do a movie together?
Kirk Douglas: Yes. Absolutely. We are working on a script that I hope we can do next year. I've never worked with Michael, and I am looking forward to it.
Question: What role do you feel had the greatest impact on your outlook on life?
Kirk Douglas: "Lust for Life," because it broke my heart to learn about such a great artist who failed to be recognized in his lifetime, and it lead to my support of living artists.
Question: Who did you get your dimple from, your mom or your dad?
Kirk Douglas: You won't believe it. Both of them had dimples.
Question: What role do you feel best expresses your own philosophy of life?
Kirk Douglas: "Lonely Are the Brave." My character felt everyone should be free, including his horse, Whiskey.
Question: What were you thinking during the Kennedy Center Awards? It was very emotional, and I was greatly moved.
Kirk Douglas: I was thinking of my mother, and I tried not to cry.
Question: What was the most important thing you discovered about yourself while writing your two new books?
Kirk Douglas: That I'm really not a bad guy.
Question: Is the story you tell about Satan's Mirror in THE BROKEN MIRROR a story that you heard in your childhood?
Kirk Douglas: Yes. It's an Anderson fairy tale. It's the first of seven parts of a very long story called "The Snow Queen." It's a deep story. There is much truth in fairy tales.
Question: I have children myself -- you must be so proud of yours. What performance of Michael's did you like best?
Kirk Douglas: "Falling Down" and his newest, "The Game."
Question: If you could act in a scene with any actor in history, who would you choose, and what scene would you enact?
Kirk Douglas: Good question. Let me think. John Barrymore, and I would like to redo TOUGH GUYS and see if he was as good as Burt Lancaster.
Comment: As a film buff, I just wanted to say thank you for your litany of great performances over the years. It would be hard to imagine American film without your great contribution.
Kirk Douglas: That makes me very happy. Thank you.
JainBN: This will be our last question for Mr. Douglas this evening.
Question: Where have you found the strength and tenacity to accomplish all that you have accomplished?
Kirk Douglas: I think of my father and mother coming here from Russia. They were illiterate, and because of their journey, I have had so many chances, and I feel driven because I cannot blow it.
JainBN: Mr. Douglas, thanks so much for being a terrific online sport.
Kirk Douglas: God bless and have a wonderful holiday season.
JainBN: Thanks!
Kirk Douglas: Thank you. Let's do it again -- but not tonight. Goodnight.