The Mailer Review/Volume 2, 2008/The Time of His Time: A Celebration of the Life of Norman Mailer

On April 9, 2008, approximately 2,400 family, friends and admirers gathered at Carnegie Hall for a three-hour tribute to Norman Mailer. The event was sponsored by Mailer’s publisher of twenty-five years, Random House, and was hosted by Charlie Rose. Random House Publisher Gina Centrello welcomed the guests. The program was produced by Norris Church Mailer, Lawrence Schiller, Carol Schneider, and J. Michael Lennon, with able assistance from Donna Pedro Lennon and Maria Braeckel. The event included spoken tributes from twenty-five individuals, including twelve members of the Mailer family, and musical tributes from his wife, Norris Church Mailer; Mailer’s son-in-law, Peter McEachern (trombone); and his daughter-in-law, Sasha Lazard (voice). In addition, there were photographic montages and video tributes. At the end of the program, the establishment of The Norman Mailer Writers Colony was announced by Sam Radin and Lawrence Schiller. The Mailer Review is grateful to the Mailer Family, Random House, and all the other participants for permission to reprint their tributes.

Spoken Tributes

• Gina Centrello
  Remembering Norman Mailer
• Charlie Rose
  Norman at the Table
• Günter Grass
  Taking Leave of Norman
• William Kennedy
  A Late Lunch
• Tina Brown
  Tribute to Mailer
• Barbara Wasserman
  The Mystery of Norman Mailer
• Sam Radin
  Norman Mailer: A Warrior’s Life
• Peter Alson
  One More for the Road
• Susan Mailer
  Tapestry
• Danielle Mailer
  Oysters
• Elizabeth Mailer
  I See You
• Kate Mailer
  The Knife’s Edge
• Michael Mailer
  Shadow Boxing with Pop
• Stephen Mailer
  Channeling Norman Mailer
• Maggie Mailer
  Fellow Geniuses
• Matthew Mailer
  Blessings
• John Buffalo Mailer
  Our Duty
• Don DeLillo
  The Writer in Opposition
• J. Michael Lennon
  The Novel Was All
• David Ebershoff
  Mailer Remembered
• Neil Abercrombie
  Norman Mailer: Ambush at the Center
• Ivan Fisher
  A Night at Elaine’s
• Lawrence Schiller
  The Boxer and the Rabbi
• Sean Penn
  The Towering and the Dead
• Lonnie Ali
  A Tribute to Norman Mailer

Credits

Photographic montages

Edited by Lawrence Schiller and Sara Egner.

Photographs

Courtesy of Jill Krementz, Nancy Crampton, Diane Arbus, Robert Belott, Alex Webb, Esquire magazine, Duilio Pallottelli, C.J. Zumwalt, Ira Mandelbaum, Jerry Bauer, Rita K. Katz, Yeshiva University, Hans Pettersson, G. Maillard Kesslere, B.P., Patrick McMullan, John H. Popper, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Lawrence Schiller, Dmitri Kasterine, Metropolitan Photo Service, Aspirin, Inc., Mark James, Petra Lukoschek, Ken Regan, Elke Rosthal, Donna Pedro Lennon, Christina Pabst, and the Mailer Family Archives.

Video Tributes

Edited by Michael Chaiken, Ian Markiewicz, and Lana Jokel.

Filmmakers, Part One

Richard Copans, Stan Neumann, Michael Seiler, Jean-Pierre Catherine, Dick Fontaine, Jeffrey Van Davis, J. Michael Lennon, D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus. Sean Williams.

Filmmakers, Part Two

Peter Alson, Hans-Jorg Weyhmuller.

Music

“Autumn in New York” Music and lyrics by Vernon Duke; played by Sonny Stitt. “Requiem for a Boxer” By Peter McEachern.

“Romance” By Georgi Sviridov.

“You’ll Come Back (You Always Do)” Music by Angelo Badalamenti; lyrics by Norman Mailer.