Stories

These are different stories that I've found that have made me smile. They are true things that happened that River's friends shared. I found all of these in Barry Lawrence's book, "In Search of River Phoenix, The Truth Behind the Myth."

-When Joan Plowright's husband, Sir Lawrence Olivier, died, River sent her a tuning fork with a note that read: "Tune into Life."

-"Once, we were on the way to The Great Greek Restaurant and he wanted to drive my car. As we were driving I said, 'I gotta stop at my bank. I have to go to the ATM.' So, we are driving, here comes my bank. 'There is my bank! There's my bank!' I shouted. He keeps driving, and he doesn't stop. "Now, to River, that was his way of saying that he'll be paying for the meal. That was his way of doing it."-Louanne Sirota

-"River was always doing things like saying 'I just love you,' and lunging to hug me," recollects Van Sant. "I'd freeze. River didn't like that, so he'd hug me again, and I'd freeze again, and he'd yell at me."-Gus Van Sant

-"When he was being aloof, I'd impulsively try to trap him in an emotional gesture by hugging him, and he'd flip out of my arms. Ten minutes later he'd sneak up and hug me from behind. He wanted it to be his spontaneity, and more creative. He'd sidewind you, but you would consider yourself hugged."-Alan Moyle

-"He would literally sneak up behind you when you were involved in conversation with someone. He would sneak up behind you and grab you in a bear hug around your body, so that your arms were pinned down to your sides. You could not break free. He'd hug you; he'd come up next to your ear and say, 'You know, I really like you.' Then he would let go. However, if you snuck up behind him, and tried to hang an arm around his shoulder, or tried to hug him, he would wiggle out and break free."-George Bingaman

-"One thing-he was very into was salsa. He's a salsa drinker-go into a Mexican restaurant and drink the salsa."-Louanne Sirota

-"One time, at ten-thirty in the morning, River calls me up.

"I asked him, 'Where are you?'

"He asked me, 'What are you doing?'

"I said, 'Well, I'm working here.'

"'Can I come over, and you know, hang or something?' he said.

"'Well, I'm really working. Where are you?'

"'I'm at the airport.'

"'Oh, what time is your flight?'

"'It's at 5:45.'

"'River, it's 10:30 in the morning!' I said.

"I know. But, I always miss 'em."-Bill Richert

-"There's one restaurant that Martha, River, and I used to frequent a lot, The Great Greek, on Ventura Boulevard. I used to get something all the time called The Pasta Tony Corfu. We would get the hummus, the pita, and everything else. One thing that was great about River, it was a joy to watch him eat. I don't know how weird that sounds, but when you are with someone who does not eat like a pig, just eats as if they're really enjoying it. . .He just knew how to pick up the pita, and get just the right amount of hummus on it, and stick it in his mouth."-Louanne Sirota

-"One night he ordered grape leaves. They're called 'dolmas', right? We are all just eating away. He picks one up and bites into it, and the next thing I know, he spit something in his hand! I thought he was choking. It was meat. It was meat! And, you know how he felt about that! 'There's meat in it!' he shouts. He calls the waiter over and kindly tells him, 'I didn't want the ones with meat in it. No, no! Please take it away.' And, the fact that he spit it out, I thought, 'Wow, this guy's really a vegetarian.' Usually, once you put something in your mouth, you don't spit it out, but the fact that he did was pretty neat, I thought."-Louanne Sirota

-One day, Peter James was sitting in the actors' caravan, waiting for director Peter Bogdanovich to show up. "I'd just finished telling a story, and River leaned over and kissed me on the lips. He just liked what I was saying. He was a real flower child, very open."

-On a rare day off in the middle of filming Dogfight, River invited Anthony Clark to join his mother, Heart, and a friend on a short trip to the rain forest in the northwest corner of Washington State. Clark remembered: "His mom's going, 'Hug a tree, Tony,' and I'm like, 'I don't feel good about hugging a tree,' but you know something? I've never seen trees like this in my life! They're thirty stories tall and they're swaying in the wind and they're making music and you hear 'r-r-r-r-r-r.' And, all of a sudden I realized how important these issues are to his family."