The Most Famous Person You've Met

Ted Nugent after a show- cool guy that guys got enthusiasm and intensity for days

Last time I was in Vegas I was at a hole in the wall diner and looked over at a person who was ordering something to go and nearly choked on my eggs. MIKE TYSON. Say what u want about this guy but he was a great boxer and he was a pretty cool person to talk to.

When I was a kid my family went to green bay to the packers training camp in the summer. We watched the offense run through some plays and chatted with some unknown QB that we just picked up from the falcons. Talked football, small towns and a plethora of other things. Who was the QB? Brett Favre. Have an autograph and picture.
 
Dinner with Cary Grant...July, 1976...Chicago.

Dinner with Joe Namath & Farrah Fawcett (a non-publicized dating couple)...1977...NYC.

Dinner with Margo Hemingway...1978...NYC.

Dinner with Lola Falana (WOW!)...1978...NYC.

Above 4 business dinners...they all worked for Faberge fragrance company...I was a purchasing agent for a large retail chain.

As an interesting side note...Cary Grant stated to me he thought President Ford's daughter (Susan) was the nicest woman he ever met. Quite a compliment from him!!
 
I forgot to mention Mel Torme, the singer.


He was a Colt collector, and was in a gun shop where I was. Very friendly and unaffected. Knew his Colts, especially the SAA.


T-Star
 
Dick Rutan - My wife and I were seated at the same dining table for a 2 week cruise of the Baltic. His girlfriend was hot.

Bernard Kalb - Borrowd 20 Kroner from me in Sweden on the same cruise. He said he had to use a pay phone to call his friend at the embassy. Never paid me back:rolleyes:.

Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and Derik Sanderson when I was kid in Boston.
 
I shook hands with Jerry Lee Lewis one night after a concert. He had a better buzz going than I did. It was in a club, and the country singer Johnny Paycheck was standing next to me much of the night. He was a nice guy, was about five feet tall, looked like he hadn't washed his hair in three days, and had quite possibly the most attractive woman I have even seen in person with him.

My favorite celebrity story was when an uncle of mine was in a bar just off Route 66 in Western Oklahoma in the late 1940's. A guy in a "stupid looking white suit" was drinking beer next to him, then finally turned and shook hands with him saying, "Hi, I'm Hank Williams". My uncle, who didn't like country music, thought Tommy Dorsey and the big bands ruled, said, "Pleased to meet you, I'm (his name)", and went back to his beer. The next day, when he told my dad about it, my dad nearly crapped his pants-Hank Williams was probably his all time musical hero.
roosterk
 
Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Joe Foss. Top Marine fighter ace in WWII. Appeared on the cover of Life Magazine as a Marine Captain. South Dakota's youngest governor (two terms). First Commissioner of the American Football League. Host of the old American Sportsman TV show. He was also a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and became president of the NRA. A true hero, and a finer man never lived. There are more famous people that I've met, but I'm proudest to have met and talked extensively with Joe. An exceedingly humble, personable and likable guy, he was one of a kind.

Just as an aside, he once was boarding a commercial aircraft while in possession of his MOH, which he wore on formal occasions. The idiot security people told him he couldn't board with the Medal, as it was sharp enough to be used as a weapon. That's when the merde hit the ventilateur!

I'll let you guess whether or not Joe got to board the plane, complete with his Medal of Honor...

One my most treasured possessions is an autographed copy of his book, A Proud American: the Autobiography of Joe Foss. Here's the inscription:

joe_foss2.jpg
 
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Sterling Moss, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jackie Stewart, Denny Hulme, Carrol Shelby, Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Froilan Gonzalez, and more racing drivers. Phil Hill and I talked about my Jaguar XK120 that was originally owned by Charles Hornburg, and Phil remembered Hornburg driving it.

The entire cast of CSI. Jorja Fox and Marg Helgenberger are very nice, very sweet, very beautiful ladies. William Petersen is the exact opposite of "Grissom". He is a very funny, very jovial guy. George Eads is just the way he is on TV. He is a friendly ordinary guy with no big star ego, and he likes to shoot. George spent a lot of time talking to my girlfriend once. I think he liked her. Gary Dourdan was very quiet and thoughtful when I met him. Very much the professional and very intelligent. Before anyone has anything to say about Gary, remember what Vince Lombardi once said, "There is no shame in falling down. There is only shame in not getting up." Gary fell down, and now he is getting back up.

I occassionally hung out with Barry McGuire (Eve of Destruction), I met various members of rock bands in the 60s, and I want to make this absolutely clear; that was not me dancing naked in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in 1967 at a free concert.
 
One more thing; I have met some politicians over the years. I ain't proud of that. I would rather be dancing naked in Golden Gate Park.
 
Richard Petty - February 1999ish Daytona Beach Florida.

Also met Kyle Petty and John Andretti that same weekend.
 
President Gerald Ford
Burl Ives
Greer Garson
Mayor Carl Stokes (1st African American mayor of Cleveland)
Tim Conway
Fred Williamson
Skeeter Skelton
Donald Hamilton (author of Matt Helm series)
Howard Pardue (for you vintage aircraft fans, or air racing fans)
Richard Boone
 
My father-in-law....Bob Bolin, pitcher for the SF Giants from 1962-1972.
Phil Neikro
Gaylord Perry
Those guys still get together quite a bit.
Toy and Tommy Caldwell
Paul Newman
David Ball
 
Charlie Crist, current Governor of Florida, shared an office with me for a short time when I was a young Prosecutor in St. Petersburg. Talked to him at one of the local ranges when he was running for Governor a couple of years ago.

Jeb Bush, Ehhhh.

Candy Loving, January, 1979 25th Anniversary Playboy Playmate-she was dating a guy I knew. Beauty truly is only skin deep, but the skin was nice.

Ann Margaret, in VietNam. Very nice lady.

Janet Reno when she was the State Attorney down in Miami. Offered me a job, but I did not accept. (Smarter than I look).

Bob
 
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Mary Travers (Peter, Paul and Mary), flew from London to NY on a 747 with her when I was returning from Turkey. Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson and Harry Connick - they were all playing and staying at Humphries in San Diego where we kept our boat. Congressman Brian Bilbray is a boat buddy as well.
 
I met John Force at a race, but only briefly. People SWARMED him when he exited his trailer. I also met Don Garlits at Memphis dragstrip once. Super nice guy, his wife also a nice person. Talked to them for the longest about their two little Yorkie dogs that were with them. He also had a 1940 black Ford coupe with a Chrysler Hemi in it, I believe. Met Sterling Marlin, the NASCAR driver once at a Chrysler dealership in Florence, another really nice man. Got autographs from all these guys; great people all. I was just in awe of Garlits. Anybody who knows drag racing history, and Top Fuel in particular, also knows what this man has accomplished in the sport, and what an innovator he was as well.
 
Mother Teresa -- in 1984, when she came to Norristown, PA to open a mission and convent. There was a lot of local opposition at the time to opening the mission, but it all melted away when she came. I was a reporter for the local paper at the time and not only got a one-on-one interview with her, but when she found out I was Catholic she invited me to kneel and pray with her.
 
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I've searched my boring past and found no one that I can recall that I can truthfully say I've met and had a conversation or got to shake their hand, etc that I could say is famous. What a brown paper bag life I have lived!

I've seen a few up close,,been snubbed by a few in an attempt to meet & converse, but never more than that.

I've done work for, or done work on, guns that were owned by some famous folks. Some of the guns were being done up to be given as gifts to some of them. Never got to meet any of them as the work was all done third party and the front company gets the credit in that situation unless they choose to get you involved,,and they didn't.
If that counts,,I'll toss in John Milius, Prince Andrew (and he was in town too to watch the Ryder Cup at the time but didn't stop by), Leonid Brezhnev, Hank Williams Jr, Jimmy Carter (hey,,he's a quail hunter & it was almost 20yrs ago!), Tom Selleck,,. Wish I could remember more to make this sound better!
 
I see a lot of guys mentioning Playmates. Well I can't say her name, but I use to babysit a Bunnies children when I was 14 or 15. The dates arrived in a Porsche or Stingray, off they go to have fun. Well most of the fun was when they came home. I could gauge my paycheck by how long they were upstairs making noise. And I got a ride home later in a nice car.
 
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