I've realized I've had a number of encounters with celebrities over the years. I've never sought that out. I attribute it to having lived in an interesting part of New Orleans, to being plugged into its interesting culture. So recently, I made a list of these encounters, and here it is.
I've italicized the names of people I had contact with, be it a hand shake, a conversation, or whatever, though if they're on this list, it typically means I had every opportunity to walk up and talk to them if I'd wanted to. Also, I've divided the list into two groups: those I just ran in to and those I saw in a performance venue. If they're listed under a performance venue, it means the venue was particularly intimate, often afterward they were just standing around approachable by anyone. So I don't include Bill Clinton and Johnny Cash on my list; there was nothing intimate about the venue in which I saw them live.
"Ran in to":
John Boutte'
Ed Bradley
Drew Brees
John Breaux
P.J. Brown
Henry Butler
Andrei Codrescu
Anderson Cooper
Edwin Edwards
Bob French
John Goodman
Darrell Hammond
Mark Harris
INXS
Jesse Jackson
Bill Jefferson
Leroy Jones
Maynard James Keenan
Mary Landrieu
Eli Manning
Ellis Marsalis
Irvin Mayfield
Matthew McConaughey
Helen Mirren
Rick Moody
Jim Mora
Ray Nagin
Cyril Neville
Shaquille O'Neal
Nicholas Payton
Sean Peyton
Sean Penn
Sydney Pollack
Giovanni Ribisi
Andy Rooney
Kermit Ruffins
Nick Saban
Harry Shearer
Pauly Shore
Britney Spears
Jim Taylor
Ricky Williams
Intimate venue:
Boston (the band)
Ray Bradbury
Stephen Colbert
Harry Connick Jr.
Ira Glass
Al Gore
Tipper Gore
Amy Goodman
Amy Grant
Branford Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Colin Quinn
Chris Rock
Sarah Vowell
One thought that comes to mind is: is this a long list? It seems like it for someone not involved in the entertainment business. But maybe it just seems that way. So how about it? How does your list compare?
There's a lot of people on this list I admire; the one admire most would be Al Gore.
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9 comments:
My list doesn't quite stack up to yours. The only people that I can recall quite readily are ... in order of appearance:
Elizabeth Taylor, circa 1978, right after the play "The Little Foxes" as she was leaving the Saenger Theatre and into a limousine. I went with my Mom and sister to see the play.
Dave Pirner, lead singer of Soul Asylum, circa 2003. I saw him in Snug Harbor about to leave with a girlfriend or wife in tow.
Rod Stewart (i think), circa 2006. I saw this fellow that looked remarkably like him leaning against a wooden foot bridge with a big smile on his face during Jazzfest.
Chuck Schumer, circa 2001. Was the commencement speaker at my graduation from SUNY Stony Brook.
There might be less than a handful more but i forget.
Elizabeth Taylor was a big one!
Your list is longer than mine. (Boys....sheesz). I haven't met the celeb I want to meet: Joni Mitchell. If you run into her, please give her my contact info or get her number for me.
Thanks.
I've met: Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Harper Lee, Howell Raines, James Earl Jones, Gene Stallings, Edwin Edwards, Vivian Malone Jones, John Breaux, Lindy Boggs, J. Bennett Johnston
I've run into or seen up-close in public: Gen. Barry McCaffrey, Buddy Roemer, Mack Brown, Nick Hornby, Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, Lady Bird Johnson, Carey Hudson, Lyle Lovett, Bill Moyers, Jamie/Lynne Spears
Oh yeah i did meet Lindy Boggs in Washington D.C. around 1981 when I was playing trumpet in a high school band in front of the Capitol. I was feeling faint and was starting to black out and had to sit on the steps of the Capitol. A couple of the band's parent escorts helped me out and then I saw Lindy Bogg's face coming into focus as the black fog was starting to clear. She asked me if I was alright and then suggested to my handlers that I be seen by a physician at a clinic inside the Capitol. I remember lying on that clinic bed with the doctor shining a light on my eyes but I was already fine by that time.
Wow. That is a long list. I think the only famous person I've met is Noam Chomsky, and of course most Americans don't even know who he is. We did see Hellen Mirren one Mardi Gras. That was cool. But I didn't actually see her myself. So yes, I think your list is unusually long. The question is: WHY? What bizarre quality attracts celebrities to your orbit?
Bart,
Honestly, and in all modesty, I think all stars secretly desire to have run-ins with me, kind of karma thing.
These run-ins are completely random, but if there's a common element, it's the time I've spent in the interesting parts of New Orleans and other cities.
Bart, you've met Anderson Cooper, and you and I saw Lindy Boggs at the premiere of "Waiting." (I'd met her years prior, too.)
About a dozen of the people on my list are local musicians, and it would be no problem for anyone to meet them. In New Orleans, we take the for granted; in Europe, people would be asking for their autographs.
About a year ago, I went through a bout of seeing several celebs (around the time Brangelina arrived in the city). Given the luck I seemed to have, I just fully expected to run into them. It didn't happen.
Oh yeah, Bart, you also met Ira Glass.
Wow! Definitely a product of living in one of the world's most interesting cities!
Of course, you know I always respect the privacy of celebrities so I never approach them, but I being a former flight attendant for four major airlines certainly increases your chances of seeing celebrities! So . . .
Montel Williams and his wife(?) all lovey-dovey in first class
Former Secretary State George Schultz (am I remembering his name right?) also with his wife in first class--I was their flight attendant and he was the first celebrity I had served.
Former presidential candidate Walter Mondale at Chicago O'Hare--bumped into each other in the revolving doorway.
Al & Tipper Gore--with you--during their 2000 campaign stop in New Orleans. I still want to cry when I think of how Bush, the blithering idiot, managed to steal the White House--twice.
Andre Agassi in first class when he still had long hair.
Abigail Van Buren of "Dear Abby" fame, in first class.
One of the famous TV movie critics (not Siskel or Ebert--the other one) with his 9-year-old daughter in first class. Very attentive father. Sweet.
Helen Mirren disguised in a long blonde wig at a coffeehouse during my last Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Most recently,
The Beach Boys, spread out among first class and coach, and wearing their signature Hawaiian-style shirts.
1980s Buck Rogers in the 25th Century star, Gil Gerard, who is as much of a fox now as he was then--except now he's a silver fox!
The TV actor who plays the bad guy from Heroes--not Sylar but the character who took over "The Company" after Mr. Linderman was killed in Season One.
HBO's Entourage star, Jeremy Piven, and model-gorgeous girlfriend in first class on their way to Phoenix to see a big basketball game. He spent the flight studying a script and avoiding the nosey questions of my fellow flight attendant. (Mind you I tried to keep a poker face the whole time because I've had a big crush on Piven for years--and our jumpseats faced them just three feet away)!
Walter Dean Myers, award-winning African-American writer, who recently came to the iSchool (University of Washington Information School) to talk about connecting books and boys. He is a wonderful storyteller and a warm and fascinating man. Some of you may have read his biography about Malcolm X. He has also written poetry about jazz in a picture book illustrated by his award-winning children's book illustrator son, Christopher Myers. It's called Jazz and is readily available at American libraries. Visit Myers' website at walterdeanmyers.net.
I hope to add the Dalai Lama to this list when he comes to Seattle next month!
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