A Brush with the Famous

[<Reminder>]

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to recount their experience being near a "famous" personality. Perhaps it was in an airport, restaurant, whatever. I know many have had encounters with Lightfoot, so those are pretty well documented.

As an example....I can say I once delivered room service to Flip Wilson (obscure name now, but not then). Anyway, just an idea.

RMD

[Sundown17]

Well, talk about obscurity, but I once worked for an upscale chocolate company and took orders from Gates McFadden (of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame) and Phoebe Cates (Mrs. Kevin Kline). And as I have mentioned previously here, Ken Burns (of PBS fame) lives in my town and we've rubbed elbows too many times (I am not a fan of his. His work is brilliant, but knowing the man personally kinda takes a little of the shine off of it.).

I remember Flip Wilson. Very funny man in his day.

[ELizabeth]

I flew to CA in the seat next to Jane Fonda. She really was very nice and wanted to talk about our children.

[Jesse Joe]

Great post, why did I not think of it? In 1974, George Hamilton IV, was in concert in my hometown. After the show they stopped for lunch, in a Restaurant right across where I lived. I was outside the Take-Out, just as they arrived, he gave me his autograph, and talked a bit. Thanking me for being at the concert. My sister told him she was at the concert too, and I will never forget what he said, "Well thank-you Mamm, I preciate you comin." Nice southern accent, from a nice gentlemen. Also bicycle for 1 mile next to Terry Fox, in 1980. I remember him being kind and seemed very determined. He too that night was at the same restaurant. Also Tommy Hunter stopping by for one night, stayed in his Winnebago, at the local Beach campground. :)

[<Reminder>]

The posts thus far have been exactly what I was I was hoping for. It's very interesting.

However, to learn that Jane Fonda is likeable, and Ken Burns is not, is a bit disheartening. Oh well, it comes with the territory. Keep 'em coming.

RMD

[BILLW]

In the early 1970's, right before he moved his show to California, I was at a party in a very exclusive apartment building in NYC. The party was boring and someone made the mistake of telling us he lived on the so-and-so floor above. My friends, Bob Hess and Steve Coyle, and I went up the elevator and picked a random door. There were only 4 or 6 apartments per floor so the odds were in our favor. We had our cover story made up and ready and we knocked politely. In minutes, with his hair full of shampoo, he stuck his head around the door and demanded "Who are you"...cover story forgotten I managed to stutter and point and barely say “You, You, You, You’re Johnny Carson” to which he replied "who the hell did you think I'd be ?" He slammed the door shut and in moments security was in the elevator on the way to find us. They trapped us in the fire stairs and escorted us out - they also called our 'host' who ratted out the guy who had brought us there. Party over !!! The four of us were back in the car on the way to somewhere else, LOL.

We watched his monologue for weeks hoping to hear some mention of three crazy guys at his door but NO, NO mention ! And then he moved to California. Of the four of us I still see one of those guys some 30 + years later and I can have this story verified if needed, LOL.

Strange but true !

Bill :)

[<Reminder>]

Excellent BillW. !!!

RMD

[Borderstone]

I knew someone would ask this eventually.
I was going to a long time ago but I thought,naaaahh! :rolleyes:

Anyhow,every memeber of my family has met someone famous or been in their presence but not met them.

My Mother & Grandmother back in the '50s actually got a candid snap-shot of Jane Russell sitting at an outdoor cafe or such. That picture is still in our family album.

My grandmother,who was a member of the DAR (Daughters of theAmerican Revolution,that's people who have ancestors who fought in the war against Great Britain); in the early '40s,was in Washington one day at the White House (I forget why).

She just happened to turn around and see someone getting out of an elevator that was kind of hidden from public view. Accordingto what she told me,Elanor Roosevelt emerged from this elevator and walked somewhat of a distance past her. :)

My grandmother also was a nurse and in a hospitasl she worked in once,she discovered a man who was admitted there,was none other than mob- man Diamond Jim Brady! Almost as notorious as Al Capone! He was sick though.

My dad saw Johnny Cash at a small club setting and got to talk to him for a moment,that is waaaay cool! :cool:
--------------------------------------------------
My oldest brother,who's a musician himself,played in clubs in Tempe,AZ with the group The Gin Blossoms who were nationally famous in the '90s. He knw founding member Doug Hopkins who killed himself before the group acheived their success. He's also met Ozzy Osbourne.

My second oldest brother has met Alice Cooper (as have I & 1/2 of Phoenix! :D ). He and I saw KISS at a now defunct Tempe club in 1992 and were a mere 10 ft. from the stage! He was ecstatic that night,they're his favorite.
--------------------------------------------------

Myself,aside from Gordon in 2002,I met Fred "Re-run" Berry of the '70s sitcom "What's Happening". It was April 4th,1994 and I was at work at a store then called,"Smitty's" and it was 9am. I was on a 15 min. break and there he was at the Cinnabon area.

I couldn't place him for a bit but I knew he was "somebody" because he was wearing a green suit and had a few gold rings on his hand. (I thought he was a singer! )
I asked,"Aren't you a famous person"? He said yes,and had I ever seen "W.H."? Then I knew who he was. I talked to him for a few and he autographed the back of my paycheck! :D

I still have it along with Alice Cooper's autograph,which I got when I worked at the country club he's a member of. (He actually plays golf! LOL! )
--------------------------------------------------

Last,but not least,I met the 1995 line-up of Little River band after their show and,surprisingly,I was the only one who brought an LP to be signed! I had to wait for my ride and was the last one to leave that night,so I got to talk to them for a bit.

I also met a few members of George Clinton's Parliament/Funkadelic in '01 and on July 3rd,2002 saw Little Richard in concert and ended up standing a few feet away from him when he waited for his limo,but I was told by one of his musicians that he doesn't talk to people after his shows. :rolleyes:

I "almost",met the '80s group "The Jets" in '88. Missed 'em by 10 mins. at a business grand opening. Othrwise,I've only seen famous acts in concert.

Thanks for reading. ;)

[Borderstone]

I apoloizefor making this longer than i should but when I went to edit the above message it only displayed 1/2 of what I had typed,so I backed otu of it to make this message.

I only wanted to say that in '83 I saw my favorite group Men At Work in concert and lead singer Colin Hay,noticed a cardboard/paper sign I had made with a hand drawn rendering of their album cover. He saw it and smiled and basically ackowleged me from the stage! That was the first connection I ever had to a famous person.

Okay! All done,I promise! :D

[Affair on Touhy Ave.]

Never met anyone famous but I came across this posting on the PBS message boards about somebody who knew Julia Child years before she was well known. http://discussions.pbs.org/viewtopic.pbs?t=7800

[joveski]

mainly just a few musicians over the years after shows or at instore appearances..

jeff tweedy, andrea corr, nelly furtado, weird al yankovic, ed kuepper, chris bailey come to mind right now.

[charlene]

Originally posted by Jessi -Joe:
Also bicycle for 1 mile next to Terry Fox, in 1980. I remember him being kind and seemed very determined. Now THAT is one person I would like to spend time with if I could get that wish granted. Even just to say "Thank you" would be enough.

He is the epitome of couragious and heroic and always will be. I love that kid and always will.

He died too young, with so much to accomplish. And we are the poorer for his loss.

My daughter wore her 25th anniversary Terry Fox Marathon T-Shirt to school yesterday!!.

http://www.terryfoxrun.org/english/home/default.asp?s=1

and

http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/top_ten/nominee/fox-terry.html

[Sheryl]

Well, having grown up in Studio City, California, just going to the grocery store or drug store I would run into movie stars all the time, and still do. Too numerous to mention, but, I'll do my best to remember. First off, let me say that Herb Alpert (of Tijuana Brass fame) is a cousin of mine. I remember when I was very small, my parents going out to a party celebrating his first album coming out. They asked us what we wanted and we (my brother and I) asked for an autographed picture. I kept it up until I moved into my first apartment when I was 19, then pitched it. Ah, well...

The first one I remember meeting (I was about 10) was Ray Danton -- an old movie star from the 50's and 60's, I believe) -- VERY good looking. I spotted him at Thrifty Drug Store. He, at first, denied who he was, but, a few of them did that -- they don't want to be bothered all the time and probably especially not by a kid.

Next, I was about 11 and my girlfriend and I were hanging out by a old ski shop in Studio City. It was a very cool place for a kid bcause it had an outside practice ramp with Astroturf on it. When you turned on the motor and put on your boots and skis, you could practice skiing on its movable ramp!! Anyway, we were hanging around there and Eddie Albert (yes, of Green Acres fame) showed up. I asked for his autograph and he, VERY crankily, said to me, "Do you have a pen? I don't!" I went and got one from the store and he signed it. Very rude. I never liked him after that.

Around the same time, I was in Ralphs grocery store with my mom and as we turned a corner 'round an aisle, who should I see but Mickey Dolenz (of The Monkees), with his wife. He had long, bushy brown hair and his wife wore one of those long, flowing dresses, very hippy-ish. I talked to him -- he was very nice! Since then, I have run into Mickey four more times. Three of them in Ralphs!! The second to the last time I did was about 11 years ago, we'd gone to eat at an Indian restaurant. My oldest was a baby in a carrier. We were in the parking garage together and he held open the elevator door for the three of us. He had a long ponytail. Old rockers never die... heh heh heh. The last time I saw him was, yes, at a Ralphs grocery store (but in Encino, California). I spoke to him this time and he was very gracious. I always keep it very short when I run into them, but, I tell them, "I like your work." It's sort of "movie-speak."

I ran into Kevin McCarthy (from the old movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers") and the 80's TV show, "Flamingo Road." We were both walking down Ventura Blvd. (very well-known main street in the San Fernando Valley) with our kids. I told him how much I admired his work. He looked just the same!! He was VERY gracious and nice!! I ran into him again about four years ago at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona, California. They had an exhibit booth set up about 50's movie/TV stars. We got his autograph this time.

He was sitting next to Butch Patrick ("Eddie" from The Munsters) and other people whom I remembered from TV, but, don't recall now. I also took a seminar back in the 80's with Al Lewis' ("Grandpa" from The Munsters) ex-wife.

I ran into the guy who played Lt. Fancy on the original Law & Order TV show when my oldest was a toddler. I was walking into a grocery store and saw him using the pay phone in front. I called out, "I LOVE YOU!" He started laughing and waved at me. I also ran into Gordon... oh, what was his last name... from that show. He played the red-headed cop. I ran into him twice at Ralphs. You guys gotta start shopping there, ha!

There are many, many more guys. Do you want to hear more? That's what happens when you grow up in Los Angeles!!

o.k., I was sitting here thinking and here are some more names (without the how and where) of who else I can remember at this moment:

Carol Lawrence (famous singer)
Chita Rivera (of Broadway fame)
Phil Brown (was oldest child on Doris Day show)
Tom Kennedy (game show host from the 70's)
Robert Romanus (small part actor)
another cast member from Law & Order
Jack Coleman, the second Steven from Dynasty
David Hasselhoff
Laura San Giacomo (from Just Shoot Me)
Larry Miller (comedian)
Mark Walberg (of TV reality show "Temptation Island" and sometime host of Antiques Roadshow)
Fred Goss (Comedy Central)
David Hartman (from TV series "The Bold Ones")
Marlyn Mason (Bold Ones)
E.G. Marshall (Bold Ones)
Avery Schreiber (comedian)
Paul Winchell (who doesn't know him??!)
Nicholas Brendon (“Xander” from Buffy)
Peter Strauss ("Rich Man, Poor Man")
Ed Asner (Mary Tyler Moore show)
Ed Begley, Jr. (actor and ecology activist)
Mary Tyler Moore's folks/sister
Cliff Robertson (met him at Costco!!)
Leslie Nielsen (also met at Costco!!)

[ June 02, 2006, 23:16: Message edited by: Sheryl ]

[brink-]

Originally posted by charlene:
Now THAT is one person I would like to spend time with if I could get that wish granted. Even just to say "Thank you" would be enough.


My daughter wore her 25th anniversary Terry Fox Marathon T-Shirt to school yesterday!!.

I wore mine in Reno - Rick (? somebody did) mentioned that his son had a t-shirt like it. I remember a movie about him and was very taken with the story.

[ June 03, 2006, 11:06: Message edited by: brink- ]

[closetcanadian]

I met the late actor Darren McGavin in a bar years ago in San Jose, CA. We chatted for a few minutes but what caught my attention was he was wearing the same rumpled white linen suit he wore on his then current TV show, "The Night Stalker". So I had a beer with Kolchak! lol :D

[<Reminder>]

These have been great posts. I especially like the ones where the "mood" of the celebrity is conveyed. My goodness Sheryl....you're a goldmine of stories. You asked if we would like to hear more, and from the list you presented I would vote for Leslie Nielsen.

RMD

[Sheryl]

Well, we saw him in line at Costco and were so daunted by him we just stared (from afar). So, that's all!!

[Jesse Joe]

Originally posted by charlene:
quote:Originally posted by Jessi -Joe:
Also bicycle for 1 mile next to Terry Fox, in 1980. I remember him being kind and seemed very determined. Now THAT is one person I would like to spend time with if I could get that wish granted. Even just to say "Thank you" would be enough.

He is the epitome of couragious and heroic and always will be. I love that kid and always will.

He died too young, with so much to accomplish. And we are the poorer for his loss.

My daughter wore her 25th anniversary Terry Fox Marathon T-Shirt to school yesterday!!.

http://www.terryfoxrun.org/english/home/default.asp?s=1

and

http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/top_ten/nominee/fox-terry.html [/QUOTE]I agree with you 100% Char. At that time the TCH highway # 15, was going in front of my parents home. I was coming home from the town about 1 mile from my home, and peddled my bike besides him, the last word he said to me was THANKS. I turned in the driveway and he continued on, for another 1/2 mile. They stayed at the motel that night, an he gaved a speech at the town hall. Next morning before sun up, he was already on the road, heading west of course.{TRUE CANADIAN HERO!}

[<formerlylavender>]

I saw Jay Leno at a gas station about ten years ago. He was pumping his own gas no less! I got out of my car, and I glanced over and thought "that guy looks like Jay Leno", never thinking it was really him.

When I went in to pay, the guy at the register said, "That was Jay Leno pumping his gas right next to you! He kept looking over at you waiting for you to recognize him."

I read sometime afterward that Jay owns a lot of antique cars and goes to car shows in Valley Forge, PA, which would explain why he was on Rt. 202. I do like Jay, and I think he's really funny, but I wouldn't have had anything to say to him anyway.

Great topic, by the way...

[MistyMoppens]

I was invited to meet news anchor Harry Reasoner at his "60 Minutes" Manhatten office in 1977 after he liked my fan letter and wrote back. It was the only one I had ever written. I had a crush on him for as long as I can remember. Anyway, while waiting for Mr. Reasoner Mike Wallace walked by & my 5 yr old daughter squealed, "Look Mommy!! There's the man from "60 Minutes!!" and he chuckled. I think he was shocked that a 5 yr old knew who he was. Sadly, Harry Reasoner passed away in 1991.

I met Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues at a concert. (YIKES! He must be the most gorgeous man in the entire history of mankind. He's charming, as well.)

OH! I knew Gordon for a while! I forgot all about that!! LoL! unbelievable....... geez... And Terry and Barry Keane who are awesome men and complete & total gentlemen. Both are devoted, rock-solid family men. Any woman who knows Terry would have to have a little, tiny innocent crush on him. What a delightful man! And Barry is one of the nicest, most caring, concerned persons I have ever met. Does everyone know that he's doing drums on most of Anne Murray's albums?

Oh. Yeah. I met Rick, too. *yawn*.....

I met singer/songwriter John Hartford and we had a nice long visit before a show at a coffee house in the late 1980's. Eveyone else was just "way too cool" to approach him. He looked so lonely just sitting there all by himself so I just plopped myself down next to him & told him that I was so in love with him in high school that I wanted to marry him... He was cracking up. He was super shy but very nice! He kept smiling & winking at me during the entire show. Hubby was all "WHAT did you SAY to that man???" Does anyone else remeber John playng banjo on "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour"? I think he was also on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour". Sadly, John passed away in 2001 at the age of 63 of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Six months later his wife, Marie, also passed away. John is perhaps best remembered for writing "Gentle On My Mind."

Pat Moraz - the former keyboard player of The Moody Blues - sat next to me at a Moody Blues concert. I kept thinking he looked familiar but couldn't place him because he had such short hair! I realized who he was when the band introduced him and he stood up. I loved the sound he brought to the band. I still miss him.

I met Elvis once. My boyfriend's best friends were the music reporters for a big newspaper & they were interviewing him so we went along to his hotel room. I just wasn't impressed.

I met Santana at a party given by their record company. I was with the same guy who had the reporter friends. I've never liked Santana or parties so I was bored silly. Besides, I was obsessed with Mason Williams, Harry Reasoner & Neil Diamond at the time. I've never been accused of being "cool." But that's OK.

I sat at a really long traffic light at some multi-street intersection in LA next to Michael McDonald. He's at least a million times more gorgeous in person so when we locked eyes I nearly had a heart attack. He has THE MOST AMAZING EYES! My daughter was ready to scream. We had a huge Mother/Daughter cross country adventure when she was 15. (over 8,000 miles) What a blast that was! BTW - he was driving a beat up 280-Z with grey primer all over it.

I was also at a red light with Robert Duvall. I think he was in a silver or white Mercedez.

I passed Don Johnson in a white Corvette in a quiet neighborhood...

We saw McKensie Phillips speeding on Mulholland
Drive. She appeared to be absolutely FURIOUS. (what a face!) Not a good road to speed on... unless you're trying to kill yourself. She was in a small red convertible.

We saw Swoozie Kurtz in Annapolis, MD not too long ago.

One of my life-long friends is a playwright & although I've never met him - one of his other best friends is the guy who wrote "The Prince Of Tides". (Pat Conroy) I love that film. Also, His niece is Margaret Reed who was a big soap opera star. She played the evil vamp, "Shannon" on "As The World Turns" from 1985-1990. More recently she's appeared on "Law and Order". I used to get all the big news before it hit the tabloids during her soap opera days. Juicy. lol... (I've never seen any of her performances, however.)

He was also close to legendary columnnist Herb Caen. (who would occassionally write about my dear friend in his column.) He was the first boss I ever had. We're still close 37 years later. Most of my friends are of the "Life-Long" variety.

In 1998 we saw Jo Beth Williams filming at the Minneapolis airport. It was called "A Chance Of Snow". The camera just doesn't do her justice. She's DDG. While I was busy raiding the shops my hubby managed to be filmed as part of a crowd in the film. LoL. So we had to get a copy. I think we saw Michael Onkean, too. He was also in it.

My sister was stuck in a traffic jam on a Calif. freeway once next to Farrah Fawcett & Ryan O'Neil. They were having a huge knock-down-drag-out fight. She was winning - hands down. Poor Ryan!

Hubby saw Chubby Checker putting gas in his T-Bird in Delaware. It was a strange car with tassels and fringe and fuzzy dice, etc...

We had a very famous neighbor for 11 years. Drew Lewis was a member of Ronald Reagan's cabinet as The Secretary Of Transportation. He had an incredible estate with an airport and Reagan would fly in & out in a helicopter and eat at Drew's lovely restaurant "The Bay Pony Inn" across the street from our house. He was incredibly handsome & very nice. Very well respected & admired by all who knew him. His wife, Marilyn, was in the State Legislature for many years. He was the man who made a success of Kelly Services. He was/is on the Board of Directors for:

American Express
AT&T
Lucent
Ford Motors
Union Pacific Railroad (Chairman & CEO)
Campbell Soup
Gannet Press

It's great to see a genuinely nice person in a position of power but I get the impression it stresses him out...

Here's a good one. I went to high school with Rocky ("Rock") Pamplin who was one of the more famous PlayGirl magazine foldouts. I think he was also "Man Of The Decade". (and rightly so) He was also the dark haired "Marlboro Man" back in the 1970s. And he was drafted by the Saints at one point. Then he was with The Beach Boys for a few years... kind of as a "keeper" of sorts to keep Brian Wilson off drugs. He had a steamy affair with Brian's wife in Brian's house. (not nice) There's a book called "Heros & Villains" by Steven Gaines about The Beach Boys and Rocky is discussed there. He once beat the stuffing out of Dennis Wilson for bringing drugs around Brian.

I have got to learn how to post pictures. Will check it out soon. He was really good looking. And he was very nice in high school even though he was THE Big Man On Campus.

[ June 05, 2006, 04:33: Message edited by: MistyMoppens ]

[<Reminder>]

Holy smokes, MistyMoppens,

You and Sheryl have amazing stories. They're appreciated.

The John Hartford recollection was especially noteworthy, since "Gentle On My Mind" is my favorite song of all time. Thanks for taking the time to pass the memories along.

RMD

[MistyMoppens]

Originally posted by &lt;Reminder&gt;:


The John Hartford recollection was especially noteworthy, since "Gentle On My Mind" is my favorite song of all time. Thanks for taking the time to pass the memories along.

RMD I know what you mean... the melody and lyrics are really, really beautiful... Very stirring.

I just thought of another "brush" with a famous person. A few years ago I was shopping in the jewelry dept. in Harrod's at the same time with Christopher Dean of the world renowed figure skating duo "Torvill and Dean". We kept getting in each other's way trying to look at the same items. He didn't buy anything for me.

:confused:

[Janice]

My first story falls more in the category of “I knew him when” than it does “a brush with the famous.” In 1986/87, I was living in Lafayette, Louisiana and supplemented my day job tending bar at this little neighborhood joint that I had been hanging out in for years. One of the main attractions of this little bar was that they had live music - of the country-rock persuasion - 6 nights a week. One of the local bands that played there had this adorable lead singer with brooding eyes, long hair, a cowboy hat that shadowed most of his face and a great voice reminiscent of George Jones - that lead singer was Sammy Kershaw. In the fall of 1987, I moved to New Hampshire and lost track of Sammy – I don’t mean to imply that we were friends; we were just acquaintances who worked at the same place, I mean that I lost track of him musically – and found out a year or so later that he had given up music entirely.

Jump forward to 1990…..I’m working in a doctor’s office in New Hampshire and one of my friends/coworkers shared my enjoyment of country music, so we had the radio in our space tuned to a country station. One day a song caught my attention – the voice sounded very familiar, but I couldn’t place it. So I listened until the end of the song, hoping that the DJ would offer the singer’s name. Sure enough, the DJ said it was Sammy Kershaw singing Cadillac Style. Well I was stunned and proceeded to tell my friend/coworker that I knew this guy. She didn’t believe me until I came in the next day with some pictures. By then he had cut off the hair, lost the hat, and went on to be quite popular throughout the 90s with several hits.

Ironically, a few years later, my mom was on her way back to Louisiana after visiting me in New Hampshire and was on the same plane as Sammy Kershaw between Nashville and Lafayette. Lafayette has a very small airport and really not a very busy one, at that. While waiting for the baggage, she happened to be standing right next to him and so she said hi and went on to say that she was sure he wouldn’t remember her from his Checkmate (that was the name of the bar) days, but that he might remember her daughter, Janice. He said he did remember me and asked how I was doing (she claimed that he couldn’t have been just being polite, because he described me and some accurate memories of our time at the Checkmate). Their conversation went on as they walked out of the terminal. He walked up to this Limo that was waiting for him and asked Mom if she needed a ride. She of course already had a ride, so he told her to make sure and tell me hello and they went their separate ways.

My other brush with the famous happened in 1967. We were living in Tucson, Arizona, next door to a man who worked at Old Tucson as a stunt man. For those of you not familiar, Old Tucson is a movie studio/theme park, where many western movies and TV shows were/are filmed. One of those TV shows was the High Chaparral – it was one of my favorite shows. We used to go out there with our neighbor and watch the filming.

On one occasion we attended a rodeo where the stars of the show were appearing. We sat in the VIP area with them. Leif Erickson (Big John Cannon) and Linda Cristal (Victoria) didn’t have much to do with us beyond the introduction pleasantries, but Cameron Mitchell (Buck), Mark Slade (Billy Blue) and Henry Darrow (Manolito) sat with us and chatted.

I had the biggest crush on "Manolito" – which some might find odd since Mark Slade was the teen idol of the show – I guess even at five years old, I was a nonconformist. And even then, I knew what I liked…..tall, dark and handsome (Mark was not so tall, dirty blonde and handsome) :D

Well, as our Jenney would say, “If it’s not one thing, it’s your mother!” – Yes, my mom embarrassed the heck out of me by telling Henry that he was my favorite. He spent the rest of the day teasing me, buying me cotton candy and just giving me a lot of attention, which I adored, but that didn’t remove the embarrassment! Mark Slade was very nice, too. Come to find out, he was the same age as my dad (27, at the time) and they grew up in the same town of Danvers, Massachusetts. Their paths never crossed as youngsters, but they were able to reminisce about places and things and had a great time with that. And Cameron?…..Cameron was just funny – he kept us all in stitches.

Times out at Old Tucson were definitely fun times – hmmm, wonder if the curtains my mom made for the saloon are still there. No, I’m sure they’re probably long gone :)

[<Reminder>]

Janice,

I remember seeing Cameron Mitchell at a bar in Flagstaff, AZ. I never spoke with him but I can say that there was a large group of people around his table and each and every one of them wore a smile.

RMD

[Jenney]

I've been luckier than most in running in to celebrities. I do a very large antique show in Brimfield Mass, for the last 18 years, and get to see lots of people that way. Susan St. James is a regular in my booth, and Martha Stewart, Mary Travers, Katie Couric, Penny Marshall, and lots of others have all been in. The most unusal person though was John Malkovitz, didn't expect to see him there! I've never asked anyone for an autograph though, unless they were writing a check!
I saw Stephen King at a rest stop on the Maine Turnpike, and just happened to have a book of his in the car. I ran back to get it while he was in the men's room, and asked him to sign it after he picked up some food. He was exceptionally gracious, as I had to hold his pizza and soda while he signed it.
I had the pleasure of bringing Dave Mallett backstage to GL's concert in Portland Maine last year, somewhere around here I have the picture. If I can find it, I'll post it. Getting a picture with my two favorite mucians was a thrill for me and something I'd looked forward to for years.
I've made glasses for Paul Newman, but didn't get to see him. I met Morley Safer when he broke his glasses, I was almost worried I was being investigated! Got to fix Andrew McCarthy's glasses once too. I was out the day Steven Tyler came in with a contact lens problem! Harve Presnell (from Annie) got an eye exam, he walked around singing the whole time he was waiting.

I was once eating dinner at a place in Florida and there was a nice woman who kept smiling at me and finally waved. I knew she looked familiar, and about two weeks later realized that she was Dee Wallace Stone, the mom from ET.

My former father in law owned an entertainment agency, so we got to see lots of people. Glen Campbell was extremely pleasent, a real nice guy, and I have a nice picture of my youngest daughter on his lap. Helen Reddy was very professional, the polar opposite of Sarah Vaughan! I didn't think much of her.
I've had the opportunity to meet several ice skaters, Dorothy Hamill, Janet Lynn and several others when my friend competed in the Nationals. There are a lot of ice skaters that live around here too, so spotting them is not that unusual.

I know I'll think of a dozen more later, but sure can't right now!
Jenney

[<Reminder>]

I continue to be amazed at the stories being posted. So many forgotten names have been mentioned. Obviously, this is a very diverse and intelligent (myself excluded) group of people, but you already knew that.

Thanks,

RMD

[Janice]

Originally posted by &lt;Reminder&gt;:
Janice,

I remember seeing Cameron Mitchell at a bar in Flagstaff, AZ. I never spoke with him but I can say that there was a large group of people around his table and each and every one of them wore a smile.
RMD Cameron Mitchell appeared to be a very friendly man who did his best to make people smile and laugh. The wonderful thing about all three of them is that they didn't just write me off as a 5 year old and ignore me. They included me and didn't talk down to me. I don't remember a lot of the details of the afternoon's conversation, but I do remember feeling welcome and part of the group. I have to attribute some of that to my parents, though. They always included me and never talked down to me, so consequently, those around them did the same.

[<formerlylavender>]

Sheryl, you sure have a long list of sightings. Where did you see Laura San Giacomo? I loved Just Shoot Me.

[charlene]

I met Kris Kristofferson at the Toronto airport as I was coming back from a holiday with my 4 1/2 year old son and 7 month old daughter. She was in the luggage buggy and he was running around. When I looked behind me to see where he'd run off to I noticed a guy all inblack, longish hair and beard. I thought he looked like KK. A few seconds later he was right beside me! He said something like "I know about traveling with kids" and I was looking into those beautiful blue KK eyes!! omigosh!!!! He scurried past and it was then I noticed other people recognizing him. We went out to go to the parking lot and he was standing there looking around. We asked if we could help and he said he was supposed to have a car pick him to take him to King City where he was shooting a movie. We offered him aride but his car drove up a second later. He said 'thanks' and that was that!
lol

I've met the wonderful Ron Sexsmith a few times, Canadian folk legend Valdy, Canadian figure skating duo - Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini after a skating exhibition at Nathan Phillips Square at Toronto's City Hall,Prime Minister Trudeau when he was dedicating a monument along the lakeshore in Toronto - it was for Peter Gzowski's late father, I was just a kid! hmmmm....several Ontario politicians and local/Toronto/Hamilton tv/radio news people when I was involved in school issues, Burton Cummings for a brief moment, I'm sure there are others but I've drawn a blank...I'll update when I find my mind....

[Sheryl]

Jenney, thanks for reminding me -- I met Dee Wallace Stone as she was dropping off (I assume) her pre-schooler at our pre-school a few years ago. It could have been over the summer, I can't remember. She had broken a leg and was trying to get around. I didn't recognize her at first and asked whether I could help her. Then when she flashed that smile at me, I recognized her immediately. I ran into her a few more times and just smiled.

Lavender -- I saw Laura at Starbucks in Studio City. This was right after she'd had a baby. Caffeine is a definite "must" when you're dealing with sleep deprivation and a job with long hours.

I saw Jack Coleman (already mentioned -- the second Steven from Dynasty) at one of the other Starbucks in Studio City (we have 3). Ran into him at least three times -- we were admiring each other's kids. He was VERY tall, VERY nice, and VERY good looking! His wife was a gorgeous, willowy blonde. You can imagine what their kids looked like...

I used to date an old-time western star named Clarke L'Amoreaux. He was a co-star in "The Virginian." He also went by the name of Gary Clarke. It was a May/December romance. There were 30 years between us. He was quite a guy.

Oh, just remembered -- my girlfriend turned down a date with pre-governer Gray Davis. This was back in 1985 or so. Obviously, he wasn't married yet. She introduced me to him. He was very quiet and polite, very somberly dressed in a grey suit. I have no idea what he was doing in our building. There was a building & loan on the first floor, my girlfriend worked on my floor for a cancer research fundraising organization, and I worked for the attorneys across the hall from her. Oh, yes, the architect was on the top level. That was it. He was seeing him. Gray had spotted my (very attractive) friend in the elevator, but, she had no intention of getting involved with someone who was deep into politics, so she politely turned him down. Wonder what she's thinking now?! Well, she married her rich boss and they moved to Massachusetts to a very tony neighborhood, so she's probably not crying over it!

[ June 05, 2006, 15:41: Message edited by: Sheryl ]

[charlene]

Originally posted by MistyMoppens:
I wonder if you guys were on the same plane.... [/QB]If he was coming from Hartford CT. on a DASH 8 Canadian prop plane we were!
lolol

[johnfowles]

excellent topic.I have to begin by saying
"I often brush up against myself"!!!
Other notables I have met or seen are legion.
1.I'll start with a famous person if you are interested in maintaining/repairing Motor cars
John Haynes
http://www.haynes.co.uk/wcsstore/HaynesPublishing/images/aboutus_haynes_jhaynes.jpg
Who I now see now has an OBE
in the early 70's he and I used to be one of four John's who most weeks played Badminton in Sherborne Dorset.Other than Ed Mullen he is the only millionaire I know
I reckon I know John pretty well and in about 1973 after attending a hill climb race he was sponsoring I was not best pleased to find that he had been trying to pinch my then girl-friend.
I took the opportunity to google and found that his company now run by his son (also John Haynes) is about to publish a repair manual for the Spitfire fighter plane. How wonderful see:-
http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART34969.html
and on his company's site
http://www.haynes.com/
in the site's press releases section I found a link to a very new publication to wit
"To be used only after Sunday 11th June 2006
The Brain Manual

A new book from Haynes for National Men's Health Week
Publication date: 12th June 2006"
http://www.haynes.co.uk/Press/Releases_HTML/060519_BrainPR_haynes_press_release.htm
this should interest Brian. a.k.a "iron" and to his chatroom pals "Brain"!!
http://www.haynes.co.uk/Press/HaynesJackets/RGBhr_4371.jpg (http://www.haynes.co.uk/wcsstore/HaynesPublishing/images/Bookjackets/150scans/4371.jpg)
Now lets see well I have often brushed up against Bru/silverheels (sorry Bru) who herself has been in close contact with many famous people like Rolf Harris. Michael Crawford and Spike (the well known typing error) Milligna
i recently recounted how on 6 April 1964 I literally brushed against Peter Paul and Mary as they flew into London Airport and used the same terminal building door that I was using to get out to my Montreal-bound aircraft.
A few years later at Montreal Meribel Airport en route to my London bound plane in 1989 I was right behind Donald Sutherland in the line to get onto the mobile lounge.
As far as musical personalities go I was once whilst watching Ella Fitzgerald sing at London's the Hammersmith Odeon from the very back of the stalls suddenly aware of the presence of someone very large next to me, and somewhere I have the autograph of Oscar Peterson
I cannot recall now the exact date and exhibition but I was close to Sir "uncle" Clive Sinclair, inventor of my very first (kit-built) computer
http://oldcomputers.net/pics/ZX80.jpg

The Sinclair ZX80 (http://oldcomputers.net/zx80.html)
Just think a horrendously fast 3.25MHz processor
1000 Byte RAM, no floppy or hard drive but as much software as you could write yourself and save on a standard audio cassette then play through your television set as the (CRT) monitor.
it was magic.I still have mine one day I am going to fire it up again.
Of course Sir Clive went on to other glorious inventions especially his ill-fated ecological transport solution
http://www.sinclair-research.co.uk/c5/images/h-c5-l.jpg
The Sinclair C5 electric PC (Personal Car)
John Fowles

[Sundown17]

Originally posted by Jenney:

I know I'll think of a dozen more later, but sure can't right now!
Jenney Geesh Jenney, how could you forget the one that was practically at your door? (Paging Dr. Benton...) ;)

[Janice]

Originally posted by Sundown17:
Geesh Jenney, how could you forget the one that was practically at your door? (Paging Dr. Benton...) ;) I was wondering the same thing, Diane :)

[Borderstone]

I recalled another!

My brother in the early '90s,when he worked at the same hotel,as I later did, met Lorenzo Lamas who was staying thee. This was about the time Lamas was starring in the syndicated action show "Renegade". :rolleyes: (Not one of my favorites :D ).

[Janice]

I liked him much better in Renegade than Dynasty :D

[Jenney]

Originally posted by Sundown17:
quote:Originally posted by Jenney:

I know I'll think of a dozen more later, but sure can't right now!
Jenney Geesh Jenney, how could you forget the one that was practically at your door? (Paging Dr. Benton...) ;) [/QUOTE]Doh! I almost forgot about him! Funny, I just mentioned him today too. I was out in my driveway one day, and saw this tall nice looking man go walking down the middle of the road. I must have done a triple take, as he looked up and waved. It was Eriq LaSalle, who played Dr. Peter Benton on ER.
Now I live in the middle of no where, on a deadend street, in a suburb of Hartford. What the dickens was he doing on my street? This was one of several sightings, turns out his cousin lives down the street and he stays with him often. Odd though to see someone you watch on TV go walking past your mailbox!

[Jenney]

Originally posted by Sundown17:
quote:Originally posted by Jenney:

I know I'll think of a dozen more later, but sure can't right now!
Jenney Geesh Jenney, how could you forget the one that was practically at your door? (Paging Dr. Benton...) ;) [/QUOTE]Doh! I almost forgot about him! Funny, I just mentioned him today too. I was out in my driveway one day, and saw this tall nice looking man go walking down the middle of the road. I must have done a triple take, as he looked up and waved. It was Eriq LaSalle, who played Dr. Peter Benton on ER.
Now I live in the middle of no where, on a deadend street, in a suburb of Hartford. What the dickens was he doing on my street? This was one of several sightings, turns out his cousin lives down the street and he stays with him often. Odd though to see someone you watch on TV go walking past your mailbox!

[MistyMoppens]

I had mentioned that Gord's drummer Barry Keane was Anne Murray's studio drummer on many of her LPs. So think of him whenever you hear her greatest hits like "You Needed Me." (way to go, Barry!) I don't think many of Gord's fans know this.

And his ex steel guitarist PeeWee Charles (aka Ed Ringwald) worked for her, as well. Since he left the band I've missed that added "something special" that has been missing in the music ever since.

[geodeticman]

I've got to say that any reservations I still had about lon(ger) posts than ..say.. 3 - 5 lines might be uninteresting to people in corfid when I write them are rendered academic.

I try to [write longer posts]less, but still do some eye-popping 3 pagers (thanks to some healthy badgering I at least not seperate by paragraph if not content).

I have to say as well the famous people sheryl, mistym, and others above have run into are really interesting accounts to read, and I was totally unaware they were lon(ger) posts, as they had a ton of germaine material to the post opening question.

My additions to the subject I truly believe would not be of interest to the group - they are by and large luminaries in the field I am in, which I alltogether to-often digress to expounding upon. People who have been widely read and trend-setters at conferences attended by 6- 8,000 mappers from around the world - 63 countries at the last ESRI conference I went to.
But, alas, not of general interest.

Maybe one other type of non-celebrity, yet still famous ( in their field only) is worth giving pause and taking time to mention. My Dad. I know, I know, my Dad is stronger than your Dad, neener, neener. LOL . No, I do not mean any bragging in this vane.

I raise my father's name because he indeed was famous, in the field of rocketry and the space program. William R. "Russ" Dunbar. He is my personal idol in the sense of role model, wish I was more like him, admire him for his principles, and am astonished at his relentless perseverance in his field that culminated in such larger-than-life accomplishments as the Appolo program and man's landing on the moon, Skylab ( as big as a 3-BR house in space), Viking (an interplanetary spacecraft he co-designed and built the launch vehicle for (Atlas-Centaur) and was the first soft-lander on Mars in the 70's, not the two recent missions a few years back that were reported by TV to be the4 first. And finally, skipping dozens, and being an Ambassador to Germany in the Helios space program, Voyageur.

He built the rocketry for Voyageur and oversaw the contruct of the extra-planetary mission vehicle itself. Remember in the 70's ( ! ) the spacecraft with a plaque on the outside with a disrobed general form of a man and woman holding their hands up in the earthly universal "hello" sign ? Well that spacecraft module contained one of the first CD's made to contain a min-compendium of man's knowledge, sampling of arts, culture, music, literature,the sciences, engineering, history, photographs, and a mathematical model of our most prevalent earth's languages so any (alien) recipient could re-construct our math-encrypted languages.

Dad was the Chief Engineer for that project, and dozens of others. He was famous in his field to the extent that if you have heard while learning the sciences in shool of famous rocketry names like Werner Von Braun, and Goddard, well, Dad worked with them and then shot to stellar levels in his career to finish as The Director of the Unmanned Space Program.

Really the only reason I bring this example up at all, so far from music and celebrities, is in memorium. Dad passed away on May 13, last month. I have away several times to Northern Colorado to help my mother with onvious matters and her grieving, and attend to handling the interrment, etc.

In the memorial-style funeral, I gave a talk planned by the minister, as in "does any one wish to say anything about Russ?" - well, I'd arranged about a 30 minute spoken memorial to Dad and his accomplishments, and their place in history. Photos, war medals, rocket models, pictures of family backpacking and what-not were spread around the dias. So, I will miss my Dad more than I could ever have imagined, and had to put-off several PM replies, etc. my apologies and thanks for your patience.

Well, Dad was not famous in the traditional sense, and I know one who is in braod terms outside of a given field, but I am very lucky to have had a father like my Dad, who spent hundreds of nights over the years playing chess and cards with me whnile I grewup, and listened to him answer my endless questions like "Gee Dad, why does a rocket HAVE to reach the escape velocity constant of nearly 25,000 mph to leave the earht's gravitational field ? :) True... unusual childhood but one that I was truly fortunate to have had with parents that came as close to perfectly...human as I could ever have hoped to have.

You know, this would be a very hazardous venue to lay open such raw unfinished feelings as these, but I have come to trust you guys and am willing to take my chops for the diatribe !
People who really appreciate GL music are indeed worthy of trusting these kind of thoughts to. That is also why I am saddened to hear of Sheryl's departure. Thats another thread, though.
Thanks for reading, for anyone who got this far.
- geo Steve

[ June 09, 2006, 04:53: Message edited by: geodeticman ]

[Sundown17]

Steve,

My condolences on the passing of your father. A sad day indeed.

Being an American that grew up in the 60's and 70's when such achievements of the space program where an excuse to bring a tv into the classroom (gasp!) to watch launches and landings, I recognize all those spacecrafts.

Yes, your father is famous. Maybe his name is not a household word (although if I mention to my husband he will probably recognize it), but the contribution he gave to this country is outstanding.

You are a lucky man.

Diane

P.S. Coincidently I live a few town south of the Goddard Mansion in Claremont NH.

[geodeticman]

Sundown17, thank you very much. your thoughts are very kind and much appreciated. Interesting about the Gorrard mansion you menyion. He had the Goddard Space Flight Center named after him.

I know much more about Von Braun, who was a brilliant and equally arrogant German Scientist in WWII who is oten thought of as the father of modern rocketry. He was recruited by NASA after the war and built a non-working rocket called Atlas. And non-working Centaur.

After dad worked with him as a young protege of the aging mentor, Von Braun dropped a non-working nemesis of his called the Atlas rocket, which he announced would never fly. It was given to dad and told to make it work. He did - and in the process created the unqique fuel mixture of liquid hydrogen and Liguid oxygen in precise ratio that prevented explosion, yet provided burn - and later lifted the SATURN V and Apollo off the ground with 7 million pounds of thrust ( !!!) to land on the moon.

To this day the Atlas is still in use, being tailored for missions by Lockheed Martin here in Colorado near where I live in Douglas County. Dad and team built the entire Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle, if of any interest to your husband. Is he in Aeronautical Engineering or relared ?

Your husband may be interested in the NASA Glenn Research Center Web-site where the history of that shop has been in documentation , including numerous references to Dad, at what used to be called LERC, Lewis Research Center, when he worked there. Thanks for the kind words. He sure is famous to me. Thanks
geo Steve

[Auburn Annie]

So sorry for your loss, Steve. He sounds like a man to be very proud of. And yes, I also recognize all those rocket names - must be a boomer thing, growing up with "Uncle" Walt Cronkite practically jumping out of his seat, saying "go, baby, go!" as a new rocket thundered off the launch pad. And the late wonderful Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" series was a favorite too. If my math skills were better I might have become an astronomer.

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by geodeticman:


To this day the Atlas is still in use, being tailored for missions by Lockheed Martin here in Colorado Also originally posted by geodeticman:

Is he in Aeronautical Engineering or relared ?
Great Steve you reminded me of a subject that I think I have espoused here before concerning the strange choice of 4 foot 8 and a half inches as the "standard gauge" (distance between the rails) of most of the worlds railway/railroad tracks.
for a good giggle you have to visit:-
http://www.seiyaku.com/reference/shuttle.html

this report concludes with an observation on the space shuttle
"You may have noticed there are two huge ancillary rockets on the sides of the main fuel tank. These are known as 'reusable solid rocket boosters' and are made by a killing-machine firm called ATK Thiokol in Utah. The assembly plant for these boosters is located on western side of the Rocky Mountains and to transport them to the Kennedy Space Center, rail is the cheapest and quickest method. The line from the factory runs through a tunnel so the booster rockets have to be made smaller than the tunnel. This tunnel is only a bit wider than the track, and therefore the rocket design had to take this into consideration.So there we have it. Today's space travellers owe the design of the Shuttle's rocket motor to Ancient Roman test-pilots."
this "explanation" appears on many web sites.and I like the expression you can find on for example:-
http://www.astrodigital.org/space/stshorse.html
"So a major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined by the width of a horse's ass!"
I have a feeling that the tunnel referred to here is in Colo(u)rado

And I just remembered another "brush" with another obvious, to me at least, famous person.
There is a section on my website devoted to one of my favo(u)rite authors, my late namesake see:-
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/johnfowles/
to my lasting chagrin, since he passed away last year,I never actually met him.
But I once spent much time walking around Lyme Regis,Dorset where he lived and used for the setting of his most famous novel "the French Left-tenants Woman"
which became a great film starring Jeremy Irons (himself an old boy of the "publc" (i.e.private) Sherborne School) and Meryl Streep
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/645/02johnfowlesinhisgardenwiththe.th.jpg (http://img179.imageshack.us/my.php?image=02johnfowlesinhisgardenwiththe.jpg)
I was trying to find his house whose address I knew but failed.
Soon after he revised his superb novel "The Magus", which is a very rare thing for a novelist to do,and i felt emboldened to write to him about it. To my considerable surprise he replied:-
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/6530/04johnfowles1978letter8zh.th.jpg (http://img211.imageshack.us/my.php?image=04johnfowles1978letter8zh.jpg)
JohnFowles BSc Aeronautical Engineering (now the Web Author)

[ June 09, 2006, 09:39: Message edited by: johnfowles ]

[charlene]

Originally posted by geodeticman:
"Gee Dad, why does a rocket HAVE to reach the escape velocity constant of nearly 25,000 mph to leave the earht's gravitational field ? ]omigosh that's the same question I asked MY dad!
lol
just goofin' on ya Steve...

I am very sorry to hear about your dad's passing....It's nice to hear how esteemed he and your mother are in your mind. What a wonderful legacy to have left you...

We watched all the launches as well and I vividly remember our apartment crammed with people to watch the moon landing on our new colour TV....altho I do believe it was broadcast in black and white....hmmmm. was it in colour or did Ted Turner colourize that old footage and that's what I remember?
lol
It's lovely to read your memories and loving thoughts...thanks.
Char

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by charlene:
altho I do believe it was broadcast in black and white....hmmmm. it was definitely in Black and White. I was at the time back in the UK and well remember a dash home from visiting relatives in the early hours of the morning to watch the landing live,we made it, then twiddled our thumbs for ages before Neil could be seen coming down the ladder, I clearly remember thinking that the picture was very indistinct so that it took lots of imagination to make out what you were actually seeing.
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/conspiracy/moon/armstrong-step.jpg
I also clearly remember the words utterred by the late great Frank Muir who was one of a number of pundits brought in by the BBC to entertain viewers if and when things were slack.
He opined "that nearly everything the Americans did was on a vast scale whereas what the British did was usually half-vast". very few in the studio audience got it. Just say that to yourself

John

[brink-]

Steve,
Very sorry about the passing of your father, there is not a thing anyone can say to ease how you are feeling. Please remember you have many people who care and are here for you.
What marvelous memories of your father, and so many things around us these days to trigger those memories.
Like Diane, Annie and Char I lived the space age and watched it happen in school and at home. It makes it all the more wonderful now that I "know" someone who made it happen.

[geodeticman]

Annie, Char, Brink, et al
I am not at best today so, I am very greatful for your kind comments about my Dad. Your appreciation of the events that took place over our boomer childhoods you are kind enough to remember is very..helpful. On another day, I'd like to answer your kind posts a tittle more thoroughly. Thanks

John,
As always, your posts are a veritable treasure trove of germaine and interesting information - more than trivia, not trivial at all. I am greatful you've answered a couple of questions posed above in the replies to my post.

I really do thank you for that, as my wife I spent hours today consoling my mother. That priveledge (helping) sure does bring back all of it for me is in large part why I am spent. Then, I had to exchange yet my 6th e-mail with a slack-jawed idiot at the funeral home who couldn't find his tally-wha**er with a 6 man search party, no less publish my father's obituary, containing the common somewhat longer paens (sp?) to the historically significant (dad's contributions) things I helped him with for local papers. Then, more correspondence as well with the NASA webmaster's need for more family info for dad's obituary and technical memorial at NASA Glenn Center's website.

John one technical thought now, ( I'll examine all your thoughtful links to related threads you show above likely tomorrow). The N-Thiokol of O-ring infamy on the shutter has a long history of failure below 32 degrees F due to thermal expansion/contraction on their solid-fuel boosters. Dad built them on at times such as on the Titan-IIIC, and Atlas-Agena launch vehicles when extra "oomph" was needed at lower altitudes, as you very likely know the gravitational pull varies as the square of the distance from the gravimetric center of the earth's geoid, and so they become more useful closer to the earth in trajectory.

Anyhooo very interesting the tunnel info. For a straightforward train track trivia gimme, do you know the reason train's steel wheels are substantially beveled, leaving in theory only a tangential "point" of the steel rim touching the steel trackat any given time ? I'll read all your links John , thanks.

To all of you that very kindly wrote back on this, I am sorry I am not quite up to responding to all today so I will simply say thank you.
geo Steve

[charlene]

Originally posted by geodeticman:
To all of you that very kindly wrote back on this, I am sorry I am not quite up to responding to all today so I will simply say thank you.
geo Steve No need to worry Steve...take time to take care of yourself.....you'll be able to help your wife and mum better that way.

[SilverHeels]

de-lurking to send sincere condolences to Steve. I know what you're going thru, buddy. Been there, done that.It's very early days, so pace yourself. There are no rules in this game of life. Thinking of you and your family at this time.

[geodeticman]

thanks again , here to the last two from Char and Bru above. I do appreciate it.
steve

[johnfowles]

I watched the Tony awards yesterday evening and one of the featured previous winners was "Academy Award-winning actress" Patricia Neal. This served as a "reminder" of another of my brushes with the famous.
Just about 6 years ago now Susan and I were extremely fortunate to find ourselves almost inadvertently on a 6-day honeymoon cruise aboard a luxury liner from Southampton to New York that was named after HM
no not the now I see infamous Heather Mills but Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second
http://www.concordesst.com/history/reds/qe2t.jpg (http://www.concordesst.com/history/reds/qe2.jpg)
the QE2 accompanied by the flight of the RAF's Red Arrows acrobatic display
"Flight with G-BOAG along with the QE2. This occured during the Sunday formation flight at the 1985 Royal international Air Tattoo."
from great series of Red Arrow/Concorde pictures on a Concorde site at
http://www.concordesst.com/history/reds/reds.html
Every day there was some sort of lecture in the theatre and on the Monday we heard an "informal lecture" entitled "As I Am" by Patricia largely explaining how she had overcome a series of massive strokes.
After the lecture we happenned to be walking past a door from the the theatre stage area when she emerged. I was able (very tongue tied) to tell her stumblingly that I too was a stroke survivor

[ June 12, 2006, 11:39: Message edited by: johnfowles ]

[johnfowles]

The main trouble with the internet is that it is all too easy to get sidetracked.
Having posted that wonderful picture of a Concorde with her RAF training plane escort, I thought
I would try to get a picture of the one donated to the Intrepid Museum in New York.(That is an old US Navy aircraft carrier permanently moored on the Hudson just south of where we docked back on July 1 2000
Details of their Concorde exhibit are at:-
http://www.concordetribute.com/intrepid_museum_concorde.html
To get a view my favoured route was to locate her using the recently announced
Windows live local service at:-
http://local.live.com/
where you can view much of the United States in 45 degree aerial photos by simply entering a relevant zip code
Having entered the Intrepid's zipcode (10036)
I found this view showing another favo(u)rite aeroplane a (retired) US Air Force Lockheed SR71 Blackbird
(the large black plane to the left of the control tower)
http://img486.imageshack.us/img486/6904/intrepidsr71blackbird3bv.th.jpg (http://img486.imageshack.us/my.php?image=intrepidsr71blackbird3bv.jpg)
click to see a larger version
with the local live system you can also view adjacent pictures so next I checked the stern of the carrier but this failed to show the Concorde
http://img486.imageshack.us/img486/3588/intrepidstrernview9yf.jpg
Nope no Concorde there either at least not on the carrier when this photo was taken.
Instead of giving up my quest, I googled some more and found
http://www.concordetribute.com/intrepid_museum_concorde.html
where I read:-
"She will initially go on display alongside the carrier, but preliminary plans have been mooted that will see her eventually on display on the quayside in a special glass built building to protect her from the elements of the Atlantic Ocean"
Ok so where is she now??
an image search revealed this picture clearly showing both my plane and the carrier apparently in close proximity
http://z.about.com/d/cruises/1/0/w/h/new_york016.JPG
back to the neighbouring pix on local.live and I finally found her
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/2038/intrepidconcorde0ys.jpg
and a litte larger
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/5896/concordeonly3dz.jpg
note that these pictures are obviously "before" and "after"
That local.live site is something else I have some great shots of our house
in New Jersey showing views looking North East and West including our swimming pool
in a screenshot of my mother-in-law's house you can even see that her car is dark grey
and roughly in the middle of this picture is our favo(u)rite local restaurant
The Star Of India in Kenilworth NJ
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/6673/boulevardkenilworth6ke.jpg
(the building on the corner near a row of 4 parked black cars, where we park if lucky or else in the carpark up the road a bit (where you can see a largish white vehicle))
John Fowles
Ain't life wunnerful???

[ June 12, 2006, 11:56: Message edited by: johnfowles ]

[MistyMoppens]

I don't know how I forgot about this other "brush with the famous." I guess because I don't think of her that way anymore now that I've gotten to know her.

It's a controversial person so I won't mention her name. She's been the subject of many TV documentaries. It seems like her story runs every few weeks... I originally contacted her to see if there was anything we could possibly do for her. She's not a serial killer or a member of the Manson Family or anything. lol.. (far from it) Someone else at the website knows about this and is probably relieved I'm not naming names..

[Borderstone]

I mentioned this in another topic but in 1982/83 I met famed D.J. Wolfman Jack at an opening of a store near our home (in a Safeway plaza).

He was braodcasting on 94.5 Kool-FM from there and one thing I recall him saying to the assembled audience was,"You all remember the song "Running Bear"? ... "Well,that's what we'll do in the parking lot after the show! :D

He autographed & personalized a picutre for me that I still have. :)

I even got on the local news that day! :cool:

I was so sad when passed away in 1995. :(