I lived and worked in Hollywood for decades, and have a box full of similar stories.
I was a 22 year old messenger driver in 1975. It was an incredibly fast paced gig.
One day I’m scooting through Century City to pick up a hot package. It needed to be downtown within thirty minutes, so I was smoking. As I rounded a corner (on a green light, no less) a guy steps off the curb against the light, apparently so preoccupied, he didn’t notice.
Thank God for youthful reaction time. I must have stopped my car within mere feet. In a split second, my bumper was almost touching the guy’s knees. As I recovered and looked into his horrified eyes, I realized he was Alex Haley, the author of the book, ‘Roots’.
Bet he was glad you shared the same ‘roots’ and that it was his fault;)
BTW - you have great writing talent and probably a host of good stories to tell your friends and family. I hope you’ll consider putting that gift to good purpose.
You could use a self-publishing service and maybe it could be a best-seller.
God bless
sod