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.
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......
Wayne Newton--my neighbor dated his manager
George H W Bush --in a Houston jewelry store--we were only 2 shoppers
George W Bush--multiple times
John Glenn--friend's house & again, picked him & family up @ airport, Houston
Neil Armstrong--same friend's house, Houston. He was a new astronaut, about 1964...when he left we were told we had just met the first man to step on the moon.
I was in the same room with Ronald Reagan along with 1500 other people once. Also, shook hands with Spiro Agnew after a dinner (old Shamrock Hotel{ right before he had to resign.
The people I KNOW and who KNOW me...nobody's ever heard of! ...and I like it like that! LOL!
Played some tennis with Australia’s Stan Smith. Super nice guy.
Rowdy Roddy Piper.
Nils Lofgren and Penn & Teller are very fond of their fans and hang out after shows to chat with people. Anybody that goes to their shows and doesn’t meet them should be more patient. Working on a SF convention I’ve hung out with David Brin, Tim Zahn, Jim Butcher and quite a few others. Will soon be hanging out with Elizabeth Gracen and George RR Martin. Met Ozzy on a book tour, but every metal fan in Tucson was there so he didn’t really have a lot of time.
I’m late to the party. BUT... In 1974 I was stationed at Andrews AFB and a bunch of us decided to go to bar somewhere on Chesapeake Bay. We went, got rowdy, screamed and yelled because the Band was great. They were the Delaware Destroyers. The Sherrif came in and looked at us sternly , then looked at the bartender who shook his head ‘No.’ The Sherrif looked at us again and we knew we were marked for getting pulled over. The lead singer came over and talked to us, got us a room at a sleazy motel in the area, gave us free drinks for the next hour, and had a roadie drive us to the motel. George Thoroughgood was one of the nicest celebrities you could meet.
Woody Herman, Rob Lowe, Mellissa Gilbert, An Wang, Fred Wang, and Julian Bond.
I had the good fortune to have as my high school history teacher Gordon Stewart.
He was detailed to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and was sent to London in 1944 and to Germany in 1945 as chief of station.
He held CIA posts as chief of the foreign intelligence staff, chief of the Eastern Europe division.
He taught an amazing “America and the Cold War” course, and had many stories and ancedotes (one can only guess what he couldn’t tell us).
My mom worked at a small town newspaper and we got press passes to go to some tractor/truck pulls.
At the Astrodome, they brought out Bigfoot and we got to talk to Bob Chandler who built it. They really did not know what to do with the truck so they pushed up a big pile of dirt for him to drive over.
He was quite upset because he had just barely gotten it back in time from being repaired from the filming of “Take This Job and Shove It” where the main character, among other things, crushed a bunch of cars. That was the birth of the whole monster truck thing and none of us recognized it.
Also met Gene Snow at a truck show at the closed Green Valley Raceway and got to talk to him at length.
Met several of the Apollo Moon landing astronauts when they came over to the house. My dad was one of their instructors. It was more or less a “This is ___, now go to your room.”
Also met the guy that rode his motorcycle up the stairs in “Animal House” in a restaurant right after the movie came out.
Also went to school with some of the later astronauts kids and worked on Jack Lousma’s car quite a few times
On the other spectrum was able to meet Gen. Chuck Yeager who was working for Northrup Grumman at the time giving pilots rides in the F-20 (F-5 with a single F404 engine instead of the two little J85 engines)giving 20,000 lbs. thrust vs. 5,000 lbs., trying to convince someone to buy the jets. He had a real attitude as Mr. Right Stuff and even some of the Marine pilots were joking about it. My brother who is an EAA member had his plane parked next to Chuck's AT-6 trainer many years later at a Mohave Dessert fly in and another pilot needed to borrow some tools and was asking for help. Chuck chased the guy away and berated him with his white glove attitude. My brother helped the guy find what he needed as well as Scott Crossfield (Mr. X-15 Mach 6)who my brother also met that day and rubbed some grease with helping the other pilot. My brother said Corssfield was the most friendly guy he ever met that was an historic aviator and Chuck came off just the opposite.
But the most impressive historically significant men I ever ran across in my simulator as guests where two Israeli F-15 Eagle Drivers that had recently shot down Syrian Mig's and were touring the United States and likely participating in Red Flag that year. These guys were very impressive. Never forget them.
Audie Murphy and Chuck Yeagar
E. Howard Hunt. Lived next door to my aunt and uncle in Coconut Grove.
Jim Lovell. Apollo 13. Did some work at his house once. Showed me some pics. WOW.
Steven Spielberg fall of 2000.
A very smart and energetic freshman Congressman named Gingrich, Bear Bryant, Evel Knievel, Willie Nelson, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, that Indian chief who cried in the anti-pollution commercial back in the 70s, the San Diego Chicken.
Kind of lame.
- B.B. King in Las Vegas Airport. Just chatting before the red eye east.
- Red Fox in LA Airport. Another chat before the red eye east.
- Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck and numerous other players at sponsor functions.
_ Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence. Public appearances.
- David Allen Coe. Iced tea and hot dog at a picnic table before his show.
Of all the above. B.B. King was the most intriguing. In the eye of this beholder.
In order of their appearance:
Tennessee Williams
Jon Voight
Jeremy Irons
Hugh Jackman
Daniel Craig.