Combining his affinities for martial arts and education, Heinz IV is founder and headmaster of Tinicum Art and Science School in Ottsville, Pa., which bills itself as America's First Buddhist Alternative School. The dark green school sits long and low on the side of a small yellow meadow. It has a red roof and a half-dozen tall windows.
According to its Web site, www.tinicumartandscience.org, the school "began as an idea for a small, residential, martial arts based program in rural Bucks County and has evolved into a small, intensive high school with a classic liberal arts curriculum."
The students often come from difficult environments, the Web site says. Many of them "have faced a lot of adversity -- chaotic home life, drug and alcohol problems, and chronic failure in school."
The Tinicum Art and Science teachers are an eclectic lot. One math teacher speaks German and Japanese and holds a black belt in a form of Shim Gum Do. Another was a counselor to mentally impaired people in Pennsylvania group homes. And another is a former museum director and plays percussion in a jazz band. No one from the school would speak about Heinz IV.
When he's not at the school, Heinz IV uses his knowledge of blacksmithery to fashion exotic objects in the tradition of ancient craftsmen. He has a Web site, www.herugrim.com, that displays pictures of his metallic handiwork -- a handsome sword, a Hieronymous Bosch-like helmet and other pieces. Herugrim, the site explains, is Old English for "fierce in war."
On the site he writes that he mostly focuses on medieval helmets, cutting tools (such as swords, knives, axes and chisels), hinges, locks and nails. "In regards to the processes," he writes, "I strive to use the same techniques and materials as early tradesmen did. Therefore I primarily use pure iron and simple medium or high carbon steels for most work."
He is also interested in Native American reenactments. Pennsylvania artist Robert Griffing was so impressed by Heinz IV at a restaging of the pre-Revolutionary War Battle of Bushy Run between Native Americans and the English, he took photographs of Heinz and used them to paint "Too Quiet," a realistic portrait of a pensive warrior with a painted face and impressive abs.
"He had a good look," says Griffing, who has been painting scenes from the French and Indian War since the late 1980s. "He was probably one of the better ones out there."
The painting hangs in the offices of the Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh.
Heinz IV serves on the endowments' board, which oversees $1.3 billion. His mother is the chairwoman. She did not return a phone call.
The president of the endowments, Maxwell King, says, "I know John Heinz a little." King describes him as "modest, quiet, very, very thoughtful."
The foundation must constantly battle against cultural elitism, King says. Heinz IV is a swift, sure voice for working people. He believes in "an equitable society," King says. "He has a really sharp, analytical mind."
In the past few years -- as he has helped raise his young daughter and tried to get his school off the ground -- Heinz IV has been less active in the foundation, King says.
Like his father and other forebears, family observers say, Heinz IV is trying to use his wealth to make the world a better, more intriguing place. In 2000, according to Federal Election Commission records, Heinz IV contributed $1,000 to Ralph Nader. He listed his occupation as "blacksmith," Newsday reports.
So far he has not campaigned for his stepfather, nor does he give any indication that he ever will. He keeps his own counsel. He has separated from the pack. He is not cashing in on his family's phenomenal fame. Apparently he has forged his own life -- of the mind and the sword. And he stays busy.
"Often I make things that strike my fancy," he writes on his Web site. "So I usually have a helmet or knife or two that needs a home."
