My nephew and I stopped at a little roadhouse, way up in the mountains
of central Idaho, for restroom break and some coffee. We, and the waitress
were the only ones there. A couple of dudes came in. One of
them walked over to the juke box and was looking at the songs. I
scrbbled a note and passed it to my nephew. "That is Tennessee Ernie
Ford".
My nephew called out "Hey play something by Tennessee Ernie Ford".
He smiled and walked over to our table. Shook hands and chatted for
a few minutes. Seemed to be a real nice guy.
I shook hands with Richard Nixon, me and a few hundred others in a
line.
John Davidson called me up on stage in Reno and I made a fool of
myself. (He is kinda semi-famous?)
Back in the 1960s I was doing audits for the State of Idaho. I discovered
an embezzeler who had got away with several hundred thousand dollars.
The Governor at that time first name was Don. He thanked me and
congratulated me on the good job, and then called me Bill. My name,
of course, is Phil, not Bill. So I just said thank you Ralph. He looked
a little perplexed.
I have been in the room with several other "famous people", but I
can't say I actually met them. Ed Ames, Wayne Newton, Raquel Welch,
etc....Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe shows.
Sitting in the cafe, in a Las Vegas hotel, having coffee, chatting with a
a gentleman seated beside me. As it turned out he was with Larry
Holme's entourage and invited me to come to the gym and watch
Larry's workout. I did. Ringside seat. Larry sparred with 3 different
partners for 3 rounds each. One of them didn't last all 3 rounds. Larry
knocked him out with an upper-cut to the solar plexus.
President Truman came to our town on his whistle stop tour. They let
school out so we heard his speech which he made from the back of his
railroad car.
I was with NSA in Washington D.C. in 1955 so I got to see Ike go by
in his motorcade several times.
Ran into Glen Campbell in the Salt Lake City airport, but can't say
I actually met him.
Shook hands and said Hi to Ronald Reagan one time when he was
in Boise.
In 84 years I'm sure there are other "famous" folks I have met or
at least seen in person, and I will probably think of them right after
I end this epistle.
Oh yeh, Bob Hope, Elmendorf AFB Alaska 1954.