Brush with greatness thread

[Honeyman]

Bryce mentioned in the thread about Ivan Reitman the time they crossed paths. Who have you met that you had a good or bad encounter with?

I'll start.....

Father's Day was coming up and I needed something for my F-I-L. There was a senior golf tournament in town so Fuzzy Zoeller was at the local Bevmo signing bottles of his Fuzzy Vodka. Perfect since my wife's dad loves golf and vodka. Get there and he's sitting at a table, flanked by 2 guys in suits, and a big breasted girl in a short skirt with a tight Fuzzy Vodka shirt on. Nobody in line. I get to the table, one of the suits starts to give me a spiel on the vodka and asks if I want a signed bottle. "YES!" I say. Fuzzy barks, "What's your name?". I say, "It's not for me Fuzzy, it's for my....." "HEY! I'm not writing a goddamn book here! What's the name?!?" he yells. Again, NOBODY else is waiting in line. I look at big tits and she gives me a look like this shit has been going on all day. I sheepishly tell him my father in laws name, take the bottle.....and then dump it in the pinot noir section and walk out of the store. What a fucking prick.

[Turkeytop]

My late father's brush with greatness was getting kicked in the ass by cowboy, Gene Autry.

When he was a kid, Autry was putting on a show in their town. The performance was inside a big tent. My dad and another kid tried to sneak in under one of the flaps. Their cowboy idol caught them, kicked them both in the ass and told them to get the hell outa there.

[TC Talks]

Ringo Starr at my girlfriend's store in Aspen
Hunter s Thompson at the Woody Creek tavern
Doc Severinsen at a dinner party in Scottsdale
Tim Allen in Traverse City
Phil Lesh at his bar in California
Justin Kirk at a bar in New York
Father Guido Salducci I ate dinner next to him at a banquet where he stood up and did a 20-minute set afterwards.
Mitch Ryder in Detroit several times when I worked at WCSX.
Bud Friedman when my station (I was GM) hosted an Improv festival in Vail
Too many jazz legends to mention, but Ahmad Jamal was the absolute greatest.
Trey Anastasio at a music festival standing in line for burritos (1993)
Arlo Guthrie at blissfest where I attended his songwriting workshop with five other people
John Denver in Aspen
Don Johnson and then wife Melanie Griffith at their house in Aspen
Woody Allen across the aisle from me In first class while flying to New York
The bunch more musicians that I can't exactly recall at the moment

[Honeyman]

Ringo Starr at my girlfriend's store in Aspen
Hunter s Thompson at the Woody Creek tavern
Doc Severinsen at a dinner party in Scottsdale
Tim Allen in Traverse City
Phil Lesh at his bar in California
Justin Kirk at a bar in New York
Father Guido Salducci I ate dinner next to him at a banquet where he stood up and did a 20-minute set afterwards.
Mitch Ryder in Detroit several times when I worked at WCSX.
Bud Friedman when my station (I was GM) hosted an Improv festival in Vail
Too many jazz legends to mention, but Ahmad Jamal was the absolute greatest.
Trey Anastasio at a music festival standing in line for burritos (1993)
Arlo Guthrie at blissfest where I attended his songwriting workshop with five other people
John Denver in Aspen
Don Johnson and then wife Melanie Griffith at their house in Aspen
Woody Allen across the aisle from me In first class while flying to New York
The bunch more musicians that I can't exactly recall at the moment

Who was cool? Who was an asshole?

[craig11152]

I had a friend who was a personal friend of Muhammad Ali.
He got Ali to do an appearance at a car dealer maybe 25 years ago. I have a picture of one daughter in Ali's lap and the rest of us behind him .

[radioandtventhusiast]

I've met quite a few famous people in my life. among them are:

Jeff Gordon prior to a race at MIS.
Tony Stewart at a Home Depot in Ypsi during MIS race weekend.
Too many race car drivers to mention at a pit road suite at MIS. Kurt Busch is the most famous that I met.
Darren McCarty and Jamie Farr at a celebrity pro-am at our annual LPGA tournament which Jamie used to be a part of.
Mitch Albom at a Barnes and Noble where he was promoting his then-new book.
Al Stewart and Gary Wright after their concert in Kent, Ohio.
Heywood Banks after one of his concerts in Toledo.
I know quite a few Toledo media personalities and met a few Detroit ones at the NAIAS a few years back.

I tried meeting Paul W. Smith a few years back as my mother works with a guy who used to work with him and is also friends. If I stayed to the end I probably could've met Frank Beckmann, but that never happened and likely never will.

The one thing in common with all the people I've met is that they were all nice. I've never had a rude encounter with anyone. I've also had likes and replies from certain celebrities on social media.

[TC Talks]

Ringo Starr at my girlfriend's store in Aspen
Very nice and calm

Hunter s Thompson at the Woody Creek tavern
Completely drunk and throwing swings at the air...

Doc Severinsen at a dinner party in Scottsdale
Very nice gentleman

Tim Allen in Traverse City
Aloof

Phil Lesh at his bar in California
Phil is a really nice person

Justin Kirk at a bar in New York
He was amazed someone recognized him, had a great conversation.

Father Guido Salducci I ate dinner next to him at a banquet where he stood up and did a 20-minute set afterwards.
Nice guy, we talked marketing on Madison Ave

Mitch Ryder in Detroit several times when I worked at WCSX.
Eh, ok

Bud Friedman when my station (I was GM) hosted an Improv festival in Vail
Bud was getting pissed no one was treating him like royalty.

Too many jazz legends to mention, but Ahmad Jamal was the absolute greatest.
Ahmad was tired and pretty strict with how the conversation went. I was 19.

Trey Anastasio at a music festival standing in line for burritos (1993)
Trey continues to be a totally down to earth person. We were cracking up at some of the stoners in line.

Arlo Guthrie at blissfest where I attended his songwriting workshop with five other people
Exactly as you might think

John Denver in Aspen
Asshole, drunk

Don Johnson and then wife Melanie Griffith at their house in Aspen
Fake both of them

Woody Allen across the aisle from me In first class while flying to New York
Kept to himself. His bodyguard had to fly coach so he pretty much had nobody to run block for him so he buried himself in a newspaper.

Who was cool? Who was an asshole?

[Matt]

My late father's brush with greatness was getting kicked in the ass by cowboy, Gene Autry.

When he was a kid, Autry was putting on a show in their town. The performance was inside a big tent. My dad and another kid tried to sneak in under one of the flaps. Their cowboy idol caught them, kicked them both in the ass and told them to get the hell outa there.

Who?

[Bryce]

My late father's brush with greatness was getting kicked in the ass by cowboy, Gene Autry.

When he was a kid, Autry was putting on a show in their town. The performance was inside a big tent. My dad and another kid tried to sneak in under one of the flaps. Their cowboy idol caught them, kicked them both in the ass and told them to get the hell outa there.

Who?

[Mr.Transistor]

My most interesting brush with greatness was meeting Mother Teresa at a church in 1979 in Detroit. I was just a young kid at the time.

[Honeyman]

I've met quite a few famous people in my life. among them are:

.......
Mitch Albom at a Barnes and Noble where he was promoting his then-new book.

........

The one thing in common with all the people I've met is that they were all nice. I've never had a rude encounter with anyone. I've also had likes and replies from certain celebrities on social media.

Interesting because I know of a number of people who have met Albom and without exception, they all said what a monumental prick he was.

[radioandtventhusiast]

I've met quite a few famous people in my life. among them are:

.......
Mitch Albom at a Barnes and Noble where he was promoting his then-new book.

........

The one thing in common with all the people I've met is that they were all nice. I've never had a rude encounter with anyone. I've also had likes and replies from certain celebrities on social media.

Interesting because I know of a number of people who have met Albom and without exception, they all said what a monumental prick he was.

He was happy throughout and seemed to be nice to everyone. He could've had a bad day each time when it came to the people you know.

[Bobbert]

Back in the 1980s I was walking around Tiger Stadium, killing some time before the Tigers played the Boston Red Sox. I was walking by a ticket pickup window on Trumbull and this big tall guy jumps out of a limousine, walks up to the window and picks up some tickets. It was Stephen King, who is from New England and obviously there to see the Red Sox.

In the early 2000s I was riding the elevator at the Borders bookstore in Ann Arbor from the first to the second floor. Another big tall guy was already on the elevator after apparently boarding it in the basement. When the elevator opened on the second floor, a big bunch of people waiting for a book signing stared at this guy. It was Garrison Keillor. I got out of the elevator on the second floor and he continued to the third floor, apparently not ready to face his fans.

[Mega Hertz]

The only celebrity I've ever had an issue with was Kid Rock.

When I was at Greater Media, he came in to do an interview with Drew and Mike. I had a vinyl copy of Devil Without a Cause that I got in 1999 and thought it would be even cooler to get it signed.

My work day started at 9am, so I grab the album, head to work, and walk in the building. I wait in the hub for the interview to end. Him and his "handler" come walking out of the Riff wing, and when I see him, I hold up the album and ask "Would you mind signing this?"

He doesn't even look over at me and his little friend says "Sorry man, we're running late" and they both go marching towards the exit.

It's not like I saw him at the Piggly Wiggly or something. He was in my place of business. I was polite and didn't rush or harass him. It took him longer to tell me they were running late than would have taken to just scribble his name on the cover. Of all the musicians and actors and what not who had come through the stations, he was the ONLY one that was a grade A dickhead. Even Jennifer Granholm mustered up a smile and "thank you" when I held the door for her!

On the flipside, Weird Al couldn't have been a better person. So shy and unassuming. Didn't buy into his own hype. He had a longer and more storied career than more than half the people that came through there. He signed an autograph for me, took a picture with me and his assistant slid me 4 tickets for his show that weekend. Al knows and appreciates his fans. And a thank you to KC for letting me hang in the studio during the interview!

[Honeyman]

Used to be you could walk on the field before batting practice when the Angels were in Palm Springs for spring training. I had an autographed ball that Brian Downing, Doug Desinces, and others had signed. I see Reggie Jackson standing there alone and walk up to him with the ball and a sharpie and say, " Hi Reggie...how about a quick one?" He says, "No. Was that quick enough for you?"

I understand if he didn't want to sign. But why did he have to add the dig, just to be an asshole? It actually took more effort to be a schmuck.

I also used to manage an a/v store in Corona del Mar, which is a part of Newport Beach. Heather Locklear walked in with Richie Sambora. They were both extremely kind. She was much shorter than I had thought, but stop-the-clock gorgeous.