By SEAN DALY Special to the Daily Press
MAUI — Clint Eastwood and wife Dina Ruiz enjoyed a rare “second honeymoon” last weekend on the Hawaiian island of Maui, where the actor-director was recognized for his contributions to cinema with the Piper- Heidsieck Silversword Award at the third annual Maui Film Festival.
“My wife is a wonderful woman in her late 30s,” Eastwood, 72, joked with nearly 400 friends and fans who gathered for the early evening tribute hosted by Joel Siegel of Good Morning America.
“Sometimes when we’re alone together I think, ‘This could be dangerous... but if she dies, she dies.’ So far, she’s holding up extremely well.”
Eastwood and Ruiz, a part-time TV news reporter and host of the new “Candid Camera,” married in 1996 and are frequent visitors to the island. They recently purchased a vacation cottage in the resort town of Wailea.
“We also bought a kayak,” Ruiz said. “We snorkel and we lay around a lot. And we play golf. We’re very lazy.”
But back home in Carmel, Calif. — where Eastwood once held the office of Mayor — the couple have their hands full looking after 5-year-old daughter Morgan and the actor’s three teenage children from previous relationships.
Eastwood is “a great dad,” Ruiz said. “He has infinite patience. I don’t think the kids have gotten to hear him yell yet.”
He also is pretty handy when it comes to messier chores.
“Clint always did diaper duty and got up at night and did feedings,” she added. “But we go to bed around 1 o’clock in the morning and get up around 9:00 a.m. “So when Morgan starts school and the whole family is up at 7:30 a.m., we are going to see how good of a car-pooler daddy is. I‘m a little scared, to be honest.”
According to Ruiz, Eastwood — who has fathered a total of seven children with five different women — may finally be out of the baby-making business.
“We are so done,” she insisted. “But he would like to have another one tomorrow.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 17, 2002. Read the original PDF.