When you live in Utah you have many
opportunities to meet celebrities. I'm
not a star chaser, but I've had a few encounters with the rich and famous over
the years. I've also almost had a few
encounters with others. These types of
encounters make good dinner table conversation when you run out of things to
talk about. Lets start from the
beginning.
There are 3 types of encounters with the
rich and famous. There is the "I
saw them", "I met them", and the "I almost met them". An interesting part of these meetings is that while they can
be memorable for us, the person we meet usually remembers nothing about the
encounter.
When I was in elementary school we went on vacation and visited Universal
Studios in California. Halfway through
the studio tour actor Telly Savalas walked out of a building, jumped into a
limo, and zoomed off around the corner.
I had gotten a camera for Christmas that year and got a photograph of
his bald head. I was so pleased ------
until I got back to school in the fall, told about my adventure, and found out
that it was a Telly Savalas look alike, and that everyone that took the tour
that summer saw him.
My daughter Tessa loves Bryan Adams and
the two of us started traveling to his concerts when she turned 16. We went to concerts in Lincoln NE, Boise ID,
Modesto CA, and Seattle WA. At one
concert we will walking towards the venue when the tour bus came driving by
with Bryan Adams hanging out one of the side windows. He was going slow enough to shout out to the
fans and wave. My daughter was very
pleased that we were able to be so close to him, and that he smiled and waved
at her.
While visiting Park City one winter for
dinner we saw Meredith Baxter walking her children in a stroller down the other
side of the street.
While visiting one of my customers, NBC
Studios in Burbank, I was taken on a private tour of the Studio and got to walk
through a bunch of show sets, stand in front of the Tonight Show stage, walk
down the hall where the private dressing rooms are, and visit the Green Room
where guests wait before they go on the show.
That afternoon there weren't any tickets to see the show so they
arranged for me to sit in one of the control booths. Harrison Ford was the main guest that
evening.
The next type of
encounters with the Rich and Famous are the kind where you actually get to meet
them. Here are my "I met them"
encounters.
Reese Stein
- Outdoor Reporter
I served on a
committee briefly with Reese Stein of Channel 2 news helping organize and plan
a cub scout troup for the local homeless shelter.
Bill
Gephardt - Consumer Reporter
I stood behind Bill Gephardt the consumer
reporter in line at a local Chinese Restaurant while we waited to be
seated. We chatted briefly and had a
polite conversation.
Marc
Eubank - Meteorologist
I waited in line for a movie in Bountiful,
UT with Marc Eubank the Weatherman for KSL Channel 5. We also had a polite conversation, and yes I
probably embarrassed my wife.
Dick
Norse - News Anchor
I spoke briefly with Dick Norse the long
time anchor of Channel 5 news at a 7-11 one evening while I was getting a
slurpee.
Dave Fox - Sports
Reporter
I once helped coach a Lacrosse camp put on
by Dave Fox the Channel 2 Sports Reporter.
While I've flown almost a million miles
the past 30 years, I've only flown first class a few times. One time I sat next to Lucky Severson a
national reporter, and another time I sat by Rick Majerus the basketball
coach. We had nice conversations and
they were a lot of fun to talk to.
While he is related to me and named after
my Grandfather, I had never met Coach Edwards until we were having dinner at
the Mandarin Chinese Restaurant in Bountiful, UT and he was in line waiting for
dinner one evening. I introduced
myself, told him who I was, and we had a nice conversation.
One summer we were at Sundance Ski Resort
taking photographs for a school group I was participating in and Robert Redford
walked by. He stopped and shook all of
our hands and we spoke briefly with him.
When I was 11 or 12
I attended a small private church service where my father conducted, my mother
led the singing and I played the Piano.
Among the 20 or so people attending were Marie and Jay Osmond. So I guess technically I could claim that I
accompanied Marie Osmond while she sang at a private gathering when I was
12.
Last of all, here
are my "Almost met them" encounters.
Paul
McCartney -- Almost...
One time when I was visiting NBC Studios
the phone guy said we should take a walk, and that I should act cool, not
point, and not draw attention to us. We
walked outside the NBC Commissary across the street from the Tonight Show
Studio and he said we should wait there for a minute. I asked why, and he said to not ask
questions and that we weren't supposed to stalk "the talent". A moment later a limo drove up and Paul
McCartney got out. He was going to be a
guest on the Tonight Show that evening.
I asked what happens next and was told to be cool, sometimes we get to
meet "the talent". One of the
women we were waiting with yelled over for Paul and asked him to come and speak
with us. He stopped, waved, yelled
hello, and walked into the Tonight show sound stage. I didn't get to meet him, but it's the
closest I've ever ben to a Beatle.
James
Taylor -- Almost…
For my last encounter, I have my wife to
thank for keeping me for making a fool of myself. Since I was a young , James Taylor was my
favorite music artist. I was given a
Fire & Rain album by my Aunt and I listened to that album until I had every
inflection and every word memorized. I
saw JT in concert a couple of times and really enjoyed it. One year he came in concert to Salt Lake City
and for some reason that I don't remember we didn't get concert tickets. Either they were sold out or we couldn't
afford them, or both. At the time my
wife was working on the heart team at LDS Hospital.
A few weeks after the concert she tells me
an interesting story that quickens my heart rate. Apparently James Taylor had a daughter that
attended college with the daughter of one of the Surgeons that my wife worked
with at the hospital. When the doctor
heard that James Taylor was coming to down they invited him to stay at their
home instead of getting a hotel. He
accepted that invitation and spent the evening at the physicians home. I asked my wife why she waited until weeks
after the concert to tell me and I told her I could have run right over there
to meet him. She told me that the reason was she hadn't told
me was because she was sure I would run right over to meet him.
So while I was sad that I didn't meet him,
I'm also grateful that I didn't run over and make a fool of myself. I've got the rest of my life to do that.
Bob Edwards is owner of Comm One LLC which develops and sells Comm One Call Accounting Software for tracking telephone calls for business. You can view more stories on the Comm One Bog at http://commonesoftware.blogspot.com or you can contact Bob directly at 801-523-9797 or bob@commone.com
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