Who is the most Famous or influential person you've ever met?

[entropy12]

OMG you are a celebrity yourself! Only famous politician I shook hands with was Bush-43 at a rally in Portland, OR.

[DoughtyOne]

Wow, very cool memory there. Thank you.

When Gerald Ford was president, he came to our town and spent some time in our city hall. When he left, I was standing by my bank as he drove by.

I flipped him the “V” sign. He was running for election against Carter and he flashed it back.

My brush with the big time...

LOL

[Professional Engineer]

Emmitt Smith. Nice guy.

He even bought dessert for my girlfriend and me one time.

[DoughtyOne]

I got wind Clinton was going to be at my neighbor Jr. College. It’s about 100 yards from me.

A contact at the college got me a ticket, and I went to see the guy in person. I hated his guts, but I wanted to see the idiot in person.

Even that event was surreal.

These don’t measure up to your experiences. Good for you.

[sarge83]

Early Mercury Astronauts, way cool!

I met Patricia Neal in her physical rehab center in the mid 1980’s and nearly ran over here in my wheelchair. I was learning how to walk again and still in the chair and came tearing down a hallway and her and her entourage were rounding a corner. I grabbed the wheels and angled it away from the lady.

She smiled real big and I apologized for nearly hitting her. She sat and talked with me a while, our relatives came came from the same coal mine camp in the Williamsburg KY area. She was a beautiful and grand Lady!

[Safetgiver]

And suddenly the Pope and a Rabbi sat down besides me...and a muslim waiter shot them both shouting “allah’s at the bar!!” Right?

[Carthego delenda est]

“I was in an elevator once with Diane Feinstein”

If ever there was a perfect time to foul the air....

[Verbosus]

I heard both John Travolta and Johnny Depp both seem to have all the time in the world for their fans also.

[WhirlwindAttack]

I was in an elevator once with Diane Feinstein

And yet she still lives. < shakes head >

[Vermont Lt]

I once spent 15 minutes in a room alone with the members of the original Dream Team.

I discovered that although I was a huge fan, they were more interested in where to get decent pizza than talking about anything I had to say.

I gave them pizza advice.

[Vermont Lt]

I lived in NH for a while. The old man WAS a jerk. Met him a couple of times at business lobbying events.

I thought Judd Gregg was kind of a wonk as well.

[cdga5for4]

Emmitt Smith. Nice guy.

He even bought dessert for my girlfriend and me one time.

---

Emmitt’s a very nice guy and much smarter than he’s given credit for too.

[Vermont Lt]

I also met Don Drysdale when I was in college. He was doing a D3 Football game for ABC. He was in a cranky mood because he came to Vermont in November and no one told him it would be cold.

He was, perhaps, the biggest douche I’d ever met in my sports photography career.

Some of the nicest people were the wives of Basketball Hall of Fame inductees. In most situations, I was on the same side of the line with them, but in the corner where a lot of the wives stood.

The only jerk basketball player I met was Kareem. Larry Bird was annoyed. But the poor guy can hardly walk down a street in MA without being swarmed. So I understand why he stands off.

[DiogenesLamp]

Where do I start? Admiral Richard Byrd (first to fly to South Pole) John Glenn (dad’s fishing buddy) Gus Grissom (dad’s fishing buddy) Alan Shepard (dad’s fishing buddy) Sarah Lee (my father’s 1st cousin) Martin Denny (Jazz musician buddy of my dad) Dave Brubeck (Jazz musician buddy of my dad)

Makes me think your dad must be Dr. Benton Quest. :)

[BuffaloJack]

My dad made friends easily.
I almost forgot another celebrity who was friends with my mom’s family.
Rod Serling’s family lived next door to my grandparents; my mom grew up with Rod. My grandmother used to babysit Rod Serling and his parents would babysit my mom. I only met him twice though.

[minnesota_bound]

A guy came up to me at a party by the pool and said “One Word: Plastics”
I became a rich man after that and also scored with his wife......

[Greg123456]

Whoops, made a mistake. It was not Terrell Owens, but the less famous Terelle Pryor

[minnesota_bound]

#55 At this job I also saw my very first naked woman
I do hope to God it was not Rosanne Barr!!!

[DiogenesLamp]

Robert Heinlein. At a convention. he was involved in the quest to make blood available more easily for people with rare types (either he or his wife and a rare type). as a O-Negative, not rare in itself but able to donate to those with rare types like AB negative he gave me a handshake and an autograph (I was 15)...

Scary, harsh looking old guy with the evil eye, at least that’s how he seemed in 1976 to me. I could barely speak I was so in awe.

I would have liked to have met Robert Heinlein. I read a lot of his fiction, and he was a master at it.

I have been thinking that the only "Old Master" of science fiction left is Jerry Pournelle, and so maybe I ought to try to get an autograph or something before he's gone.

[DiogenesLamp]

Hans Bethe

I have always thought of scientists as heroes.