“I met the real Michelle, and I will love her forever,” says Michelle Reiner’s friend Jay Flora-Katz.
In 2013, Rob and Michelle Reiner founded Save Malibu, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving “Malibu’s unique character by preventing overdevelopment,” according to state records.
The idea for their involvement originated primarily with Malibu resident Jay Flora Katz, and the ongoing protection of local businesses planned is the result of their efforts. Another result of their work? The lasting friendship between Flora-Katz and the Reiners, especially Michele. “I wasn’t some A-list celebrity who just ate with her or showed up to a movie screening. I’m the kind of person who had her arm around me. There was no glamor, and I didn’t have to try to impress her. We both just wanted to help our neighbors. That was it. I met the real Michelle, and I will love her forever.”
Here she remembers a dear friend.
Reeling from the devastating news of global violence following the Brown University and Bondi Beach shootings, I texted my close friend Michelle the day she died: “What kind of world are we living in?” Her world, fueled by her life, was the definition of glorious and irrefutable integrity. She embraced some of the country’s toughest social equity battles with compassion. Michelle Reiner bonded her soul with Rob’s and helped her fellow humans obtain justice. I craved her wisdom.
It never came.
In the summer of 2013, I found myself sinking into the quicksand of a community’s desperate efforts to protect the lives of its at-risk neighbors. Commercial landlords were pushing through small business evictions to force a lavish version of our cities that didn’t include middle-income Americans. Our collective efforts have failed as residents fight against billionaires and the politicians who gobble them up.
Goliath took this victory and David was on the mat.
I knew that Reiner and the others lived near close friends. As a final hurray, I asked her to ask if she would like to meet me. In this town full of celebrities, no one offered to help. As I answered her phone, prepared for an obvious “no,” I heard a voice say, “Please come to Rob and Michelle’s house tomorrow.”
When a stranger knocked on their front door, the door opened and their hearts welcomed a new friend. This was the world of Rob and Michelle Reiner.
Michele was the driving force behind this effort. Not to protect Hollywood’s “elite” and their insatiable desire for luxury. In fact, the opposite was true. “Mom and pop” store and restaurant owners are being decimated by the ravenous Godzilla that devours the town. Until Michele Reiner opened the front door.
She urged the eager Rob to jump in. If you’re lucky enough to get one, you can get two. And if you have two = you win. After a fierce battle, some of the Reiners’ ordinances protecting Malibu’s small business owners go down in the record books as a lasting gift to the city they loved.
Michele was on a life mission to tilt our world in the direction of justice and mercy. The underdogs encouraged her. She did not avoid the fight, shook hands with it. Michelle, who I cherish as one half of one of the strongest marriages in Hollywood, simply couldn’t play games or trip her ego. She didn’t need it, her core essence was pure power. She didn’t care what your movie credits were – she cared what your life credits were. What were you doing to help?
Michele’s cells exuded the love of her family. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to make them shine. When Rob was busy with movies, she was the focus of their strong conscience director. The list of their accomplishments is endless, including health care for young children, education for parents, marriage for gay couples, security for small businesses, and equity for the disadvantaged.
Her creativity blossomed when she joined Rob to produce the film. Already talented photographers, they now decided to create films that conveyed their social passions and truths. Rob and Michelle were two pieces of life’s puzzle that, when put together, became a creative hellhole. We may never know the extent of all the good this couple accomplished on earth. That’s simply because they didn’t need to brag about it.
Our woven humanity asks, “What kind of world do we live in?” Now we just wish we were still alive in Rob and Michelle Reiner’s world of magic and benevolence.
(This story has been updated to include video.)
