Kirk Douglas hits cyberspace for another facet of his legacy
CAUSE CÉLÈBRE
Using MySpace and other venues, he pushes for an apology for slavery and to get young people involved.
AS F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously said, there are no second acts in American life. But Kirk Douglas, at age 91, has not only found a second act but now is writing a third in, of all places, cyberspace.
Douglas, once a matinee idol to millions, has found an entirely new public as one of the older members of MySpace, where he blogs and chats online with people young enough to be his great-grandchildren. They are drawn by encounters with his many classic films and the chance to put questions to a cinematic legend, but they stay to read and discuss his opinions on a range of social and political issues.
Douglas is a staunch supporter of the state of Israel, and these days he has found an important cause in the movement to draft a formal apology to African Americans for slavery. In fact, he has asked each of the presidential candidates to take on the issue. Their responses have largely been noncommittal, but Douglas is taking the long view. He thinks there is something greater at work in his efforts.
"Someone once told me, 'Be ashamed to die before doing something for humanity,' " said Douglas, relaxing on one of the plush couches in his Beverly Hills home, with its gardens and courtyards, colorful paintings by Marc Chagall -- a personal friend -- and two beloved large dogs wandering in and out. "As you get older, you must think more of other people. You must strive to help other people. Who needs the most help but the young?
"What kind of world are we leaving them?"
It's a question to which Douglas returns over and over on his website and in his new book, "Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving, and Learning," which was recently released as an audio book read by "Seinfeld's" Jason Alexander.
Douglas' observations often spark vigorous discussions among the young fans who write. He tells them repeatedly that they must vote in this year's presidential election: It's about their future. Douglas, the son of Russian immigrants, grew up in poverty in upstate New York and retains a newcomer's awe of American democracy's majesty. This presidential election dazzles him, especially the Democratic race between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
"I don't know yet who I'm supporting," he said. "I'm very excited and I never thought I would live to see the day that both a woman and an African American would be vying and very close for the White House.
