MINNEAPOLIS — When news spread of Robert Redford’s death, the grief reached far beyond Hollywood — all the way to Minnesota, where author Judy Lavercombe still remembers the day the biggest movie star in the world came to her front door.

Redford’s Academy Award for directing “Ordinary People” may never have happened if he hadn’t first earned Lavercombe’s trust. Her debut novel, a quiet exploration of grief, caught his attention in 1978 while she was living in Minnesota.

“She had posters of him in her basement,” John, Judy's son, recalled.

“Oh yeah, oh yeah! Before he called, I had the hots for him for many years!” Lavercombe said with a laugh.

First came a letter, then a phone call.

“How many times does a guy have to go, ‘No, this really is Robert Redford,’” she said.

And then, impos

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