It's not who you know, it's whom you know

[tahnan]

pantsie suggests:

Name the famous people you've met or seen at a close distance. Feel free to post this in your journal or to make comments in mine.

Hmmm. I wonder who counts as "famous". (I've had dinner with Steven Brust, for instance, but is he famous? What about Rich Dansky? He's famous in certain circles. Fummous, at least. Adam Werbach? I mean, he was president of the Sierra Club, right? My uncle produces Law & Order...?) Perhaps I could limit it to "people my mom has heard of"; except that I'm not sure my mother pays attention to a lot of things.... And how close is close? I was at a B'nai Brith Youth thingie and saw Barney Frank speak, but I didn't get any closer than "in the audience". Let's say, within speaking-without-a-mike distance.

In order, from least time spent with to most:
* Ray Bradbury. At a book signing when I was, like, 12 or so, and I was so awed by him, and he asked who to sign it to, and I was like, um, um, um, "Lance!" And so I still have a book that has written, on the title page: "Lance!", complete with exclamation point, and then his signature.
* Penn Gillette, signing something after a show.
* Tony Kushner, signing my copy of Angels after he talked at Brown.
* Alfred Uhry, signing my copy of Driving Miss Daisy after he talked at Brown; also, a program from a musical he'd worked on when he was a student at Brown, which I'd found that weekend in a nearby antique store.
* Richard Benjamin, in an airport lounge. (Unless it was Richard Chamberlain, but I think it was Richard Benjamin.)
* Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who met with us on a class trip when I was in high school. Very personable man; also the only federal politician I think I've met.
* Neil Gaiman. Not just at large signings; but also at various relatively small venues around Minnesota.
* Billy Baldwin and Chynna Phillips. They were at my cousin's wedding--Billy and my cousin went to high school together.
* Will Shortz. Definitely famous. And I've had conversations with him, hung out in San Antonio...
* Noam Chomsky. I kind of forget he's famous, since he's just this guy whose lectures I attended, but, yeah.

That's all I can think of. I wonder if there were others?

Comments

[leighjen.livejournal.com]

Just to add to the Penn Gillette story. I am pretty sure you mentioned "Day of the Dead" in which Penn and Teller guest starred. He totally had no idea what you were talking about but tried to bluff his way out of it. It was a little sad because it was obvious that Babylon 5 meant nothing to him. Alas.

[svb1972.livejournal.com]

Steven Brust?
Wow.. I'm totally not a fanboy normally..

But, Brust and Feist.. are my two favorite writers of all time.

What was it like?

[littleowl.livejournal.com]

- Olivia De Haviland. Read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with her at a Christmas party at the US Embassy in Paris in 1977 or 78.

- Majel Barrett. She was the GoH at a con I was on the con committee for in college.

- Brad Dourif. At a small panel at DragonCon and later in the Dealer's room near the signing table.

- Tad Williams. At two book signings.

[jadelennox]

My concept of fame and my grad school combine to make this too busy a question for me to answer; I've met a plethora of authors. Famous people who'd remember me is another question altogether -- possibly 0. Lois Lowry drove me home once, Diana Wynne Jones and I had a lovely chat, and Margaret Mahy and I commiserated about Diana Wynne Jones being to sick to come to a con.

[rubrick.livejournal.com]

My list would be rather long, due to my decade of kicking around the backwaters of show business as a juggler. Notables would include Don Francisco (possibly the best-known celebrity on Spanish television) and former Monkee Davy Jones. I think my only overlaps with your list are Will Shortz and Penn Jilette.

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

- James Taylor, in an airport
- Gates McFadden, at a Star Trek convention signing (shut up, I was 13)
- Too many folk musicians to count, who may or may not count as famous: Mark Erelli, Girlyman, DaVinci's Notebook, Richard Thompson, Dar Williams, the Nields, Arlo Guthrie's daughter Sarah Lee, and on and on
- Judy Collins, who does count as famous, when I worked backstage at a Passim benefit she headlined
- Harlan Ellison, who came to speak at my school because he was friends with my English teacher
- John Kerry: my student's dad worked on his campaign, so we got to meet him when I chaperoned the 8th grade trip to DC last year.
- I had email conversations with Gregory Maguire and Carla Speed McNeil; does that count?
- I saw the woman who played Ruth in Six Feet Under (forget her name) at a coffee shop in New York.

That's all I can think of right now...

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

I've certainly met some folk musicians--DVN, Girlyman--but I'm not positive that they entirely count as famous. (I did actually talk to Richard Hsu on the phone a few times, preparing for the Mystery Hunt in 2003.)

[aspartaimee.livejournal.com]

-george takei - there's a polaroid of him and me when i was three at a convention. he apparently thought i was adorabla and wanted to take me home.
-chewbacca, same place
-raffi - when i was like 12
-john dinsmore(drummer for the doors) he did a talk on my 17th bday and i skipped school to attend with my mom. i still have his happy birthday amy scrawl on the back of a lottery ticket my mom found in the bottom of her purse.
-mary stuart masterson
-aiden quinn
-johnny depp
they were all regulars at my mom's bistro when i as in high school and they were in the Kan filming Benny and Joon.
-ted neeley when he was in the touring company of jesus christ super star
-layne staley from alice in chains during the dirt tour. i lit his cigarette.

auction biz:
arnold schwarznegger
demi moore
peter cetera
john larroquette
clive cussler
connie stevens (not francis)
jay leno
the guy who played eddie haskell
bruce willis
barbie mcqueen - steve mcqueen's wife. she mentioned it a lot. i think that's all she has, but hey, steve mcqueen is pretty effing cool.
there are a ton more of these. movie and tv peeps love the classic cars. peter cetera is a whiny little bitch.

politicos:
-wes clark - body check at a book event
-mario cuomo - took me by the shoulders and moved me aside so he wouldn't hit a plant as he walked passed.
-ed koch - stopped right outside a revolving door so i crashed into his back.
-tom foley. he was old school and campaigned door to door, so i met him when i was wee and he came to the house.

in general:
-tomi depaulo, book signing. flashes from cameras hurt tomi's eyes. and he paints rougie circles on his cheeks.
-uma thurman, lives near my office. she's out all the time.
-ethan hawke, he was sitting in the booth next to us at a diner, pretending he didn't want to be noticed that he was famous.
-dylan mcdermott, hailing a cab near where i wanted to hail a cab. bastard.
-tina fey, 30th street station philadelphia. we rode the train back to ny together. by together, i mean we were in the same car, but her stupid husband foiled my plans to sit next to her. asshat
-matthew broderick, i thought he was a gay dude walking with his partner outside the paul smith on 5th ave. my friend said "hey matt!" and proved that it was just broderick.
-phillip seymour hoffman. my friend thought he was a homeless guy and tried to give him money. we were drunk.

there's a lot more, but i think living in NYC gives me an advantage

[aspartaimee.livejournal.com]

My uncle produces Law & Order

is this true? COOL!

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0622250/ (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0622250/)