Face-to-Face with Fame
Ever run out of things to say??? I am having blogger’s block and can’t think of anything to write about! So, I’ll ask a question instead.
Who is the most famous person you’ve had a face-to-face encounter with and what happened?
Cool picture, huh? Great job Dave! If I had any photoshop skills beyond the very basic, I could figure out how to erase the shadows under my eyes!
Edited to add: Kari kindly photoshopped my picture and erased the shadows under my eyes. Too bad we cannot do that in real life! (And make tummies flatter and hips skinnier!) Thank you Kari!!! Here’s the new and improved me.
Wendy White! Famous Opera singer at the Metropolitain Opera in New York. She is a friend of mine. Wonderful, Wonderful Christian!!! God has given her the voice of an angel. She has a wonderful gift and a wonderful personality. She doesn’t put on any airs, even though she has the resume to do so. If you met her, you would never know her claim to fame. She has a warm heart and a wonderful love for our Lord Jesus Christ.
We ran into George Foreman one time, while strolling through a mall. He was nice enough to give us his autograph and a couple laughs. I think he thought that us people from IOWA don’t get out much.
Most amazing? Mother Teresa
Most ridiculous? Carrot Top
Hi Lana,
Great question! I met Mikhail Baryshnikov and he is even more stunning in person. I have never seen so many grown women asking like school girls. Baryshnikov performed a special one night solo show to benefit the Boston Ballet School. I scrounged up the money for the ticket but couldn’t justify the added price for the private party. I went alone and made friends with a reporter who talked our way into the private party. I got his autograph and stared dreamily at him for two heavenly hours. The free cosmos were an added bonus. I walked on air for days! Oh what a night! Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
Hope all is well! Kim
George W. Bush. Aug. 4, 2004. Rally in Stratham, New Hampshire. I stood in the very front of the 3,000 person crowd for 3 hours until he arrived. He spoke for about an hour and I cheered with front row enthusiasm. Then he came around the rail and shook hands. The Lord had given me a message and as soon as GW got to me I spoke it clearly, “The Lord told Joshua to be brave and very courageous and that’s His message to you, too.” He shook my hand, looked me straight in the eyes and said that he wouldn’t forget. Then, he started to walk on along the rail, shaking hands with others and my daughter who was behind me shouted that she had wanted a picture. So I called, “Mr. President” and he turned to me. “Would you come back for a picture?” “Sure,” he said, and stepped back to have a picture taken with me. The 3,000 behind me were pressing so hard that it was like a mammogram. So, I couldn’t turn completely to face the camera with the president. But, President Bush looks so wonderful in the picture and I’m there, too. Thank you for this opportunity to enjoy. Love to read who others have met. Life is so much fun…..
Hi Lana, One day a long time ago I met the lady on Hee Haw who plays the nagging lady missing teeth, she sat next to me on a plane. She was nice but I forget every thing else, I think we just talked some. God bless. In Christ, Joe
I know what you mean about the writer’s block. I’ve been experiencing the same thing. I like this question. I met Wayne Gretzky twice in the same night! The first time was right before a Devils/Oilers game – he skated over to me and handed me a puck during warm-ups (I was one of the few in the crowd wearing an Oiler’s jersey). Then, after the game, I met him again and got his autograph. I have one more encounter that was quite memorable – meeting Kat Von D. She’s on L.A. Ink and I’d desperately wanted to meet her after she did John’s tattoo. I met her last summer in NYC. She was a very cool person to meet!
I had the priviledge to sit in the choir when Corrie Ten Boom spoke at a convention. I was in awe of this precious Saint. Her poor feet were so swollen from congestive heart. But she stood there for an hour sharing Jesus with all of us. She touched my heart for a life time.
I somewhat met Martha Stewart once. She and some friends were on the same plane as I and my future husband, on the way back from Ecuador. (She had been to the Galapagos. We, on the other hand, had not!
) The interesting thing was, her friends and their children (all girls) sat back with us in coach, and she was up in first class. Why they didn’t sit together, I have no idea, but she kept coming back to them and passing out her homemade cookies. Who takes cookies to South America, enough that you would have some left for the return trip, I wondered?
I love the picture! You two are getting to be real pros at photography.
I didn’t see her face to face but I did talk on the phone to Lauren Chapin (Cathy on “Father Knows Best”). I couldn’t believe I was talking to the little girl that I admired so much as a child.
Face to face I met Dallas Holm when I got to help interview him after a concert and then again at a reception after Lana’s high school friend’s wedding where he sang.
Dave and Lana, Who’s the most famous person you have encountered and what happened? And what about Lauren and Carmen, who have they met?
Last May my sister and I went to see Duran Duran. I have loved them since i was like 10 and my favorite was always the drummer, Roger Taylor. After the concert we hung around for a while and we got to see the singer, Simon Lebon and Roger! I got a picture of Simon signing my ticket stub and my sister took an amazing picture of me with Roger!
I have an attraction to FAME, famous people and NEVER get the chance at face to face . Probably a very good thing as I would immediately make an IMMENSE fool of myself…..
I did meet Erwin R. Mc Manus and stammered around in trying to just say Hi…..it’s an unfortunate ‘addiction’…..best I don’t get that face to face.
I wonder some times how I will react if I should ever get to meet any of my bloggin buddies….
Oh, yes becky…. I met Dave and Lana and Lauren and Carmen during the Christmas break. I was working at school (the sameone that NY Grandma teaches at) and NY Grandma brought them to meet me. I was almost speechless. I tried to be so social, but just stood in awe. So, I know what you mean by wondering about meeting your blogging buddies. Dave, Lana, Lauren and Carmen became real after being celebs on my computer for all this time. What a blessing…… God is So Good.
I met Davada Stanley Presley (Elvis’s stepmother) when I was a kid. My parents, my sister and I were on vacation in California and were at some museum. This older lady was talking to my sister and I about where we should eat dinner. I think we were both complaining about a bad dinner the night before. My Mom not knowing who this lady was immediatly came up to my sister and I (I was six and my sister 13) and the woman introduced herself as Davada Stanley Presley. We didn’t really believe her, but took pictures anyways. Later on the vacation at an Elvis gift shop we saw her picture with Elvis and the guy told us that it was in fact Davada Stanley Presley. She was quite nice from what I remember about her.
I also this past weekend got to meet Alexander Semin and Donald Brashear. They are hockey players for the Washington Capitals. Alexander Semin is a great player and also great friends with Alexander Ovechkin. He doesn’t speak a lot of english, so my husband was LOVING the fact he could speak Russian to him. I also love Brashear as I have always loved hockey fights and he is known for them. During our photo with Brashear, my son (19 months) did not like this stranger being so close to him and sort of gave him a little whack (that was embarassing). The photo later revealed my little guy’s arm up in the air with a distasteful look. I now find it hilarious because he had the gull to hit the biggest brute in the NHL.
I don’t know if you are fans or have heard of him but Jim Brickman is an amazing pianist and I have met him a couple of times. I even had him sign my scrapbook of the cruise I won at one of his concerts. His music is absolutely beautiful. I dedicated one of his songs to my daughter while waiting for her to come home to me from Guatemala. It is on the Destiny CD and it is called: “The Love of MY Life”.
I met Marilyn Quayle when I was in Jr. High. I had a HUGE nasty cold sore on my lip and after I said “Hello, it’s very nice to meet you” She says…
“Wow…that looks like it hurts”.
Nice.
I also got to meet Spiderman when I was 5, that went much smoother.
Betty, you are too funny! We felt the same way about you!
I’ve had a few celebrity encounters. Dave and I were in the movie Head of State with Chris Rock. Well, sort of. We were in the stands while a baseball scene was being shot. I got some good close-ups of Chris. The photos are packed away but if I find them, I’ll post one as proof! He is a really skinny guy.
I met Mandisa last year at a Women of Faith conference. My sister-in-law took a picture of us on my cell phone which I promptly erased in my excitement. I do remember saying the dumbest things.
I’ll come back and update if I think of any more!
I got to meet my favorite movie star (and crush) Hugh Jackman. It was in NYC at the stage door after one of his shows while doing The Boy From Oz. He even gave me a hug- it was Valentine’s Day. The best Valentine’s day I ever had!!!! Most memorable! I think I babbled the rest of the night!!!
Carrie
I forgot to add two more! In 2001, I sort of met Jimmy Fallon and Rob Schneider during an NBC studio tour on a Friday. My sister, my Mom and I during the tour were taken to the overlook of the SNL stage. Hugh Jackman was a guest that night. I remember him and Will Ferrell waving like two crazy mad men. They were hilarious. Later the group was taken to a room where people could practice meterology complete with a green screen. All of a sudden both Jimmy Fallon and Rob Schneider showed up and were saying hello to everyone. Then they proceeded to try and start giving away props from the NBC room to the tour group. The tour guides were saying “No, no no” to the guys because it wasn’t something that they should be giving away. They were very hilarious and fun. The tour guides later said that the SNL cast LOVES to mess with the tour guides and often make debuts on Fridays! So if you are ever in New York on a Friday, I highly recommend taking the tour and perhaps you’ll meet some of the cast!
Lana, I’m sure that Lauren and Carmen have met some famous people…Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, etc., right?
Most likely no one on this blog knows who he is but in college for a short time I dated the cartoonist who draws “Tank McNamara,” “Buzz Beamer,” and “Cleats.” He is now the cartoonist for Sports Illustrated for Children. He once did a watercolor for me of a chicken holding a bottle of gin. I have no idea what happened to it. I still have a silver ring he made me in jewelry class. It’s really ugly and gawdy. I liked the watercolor much more.
One day I found a card at my son Kevin’s (Lana’s brother) house and asked him who it was from. He said that it was from his friend Charlie Wilson and his wife who had given it to him with a housewarming gift (a framed picture of the U.S. Capitol). He had no idea who Charlie Wilson was except that he was a nice regular customer at Subway where Kevin worked. Kevin was quite impressed when the movie, “Charlie Wilson’s War” was released.
When I was about 9, I met the lead singer to the band “Mental Men in the Closet.” I screamed my head off in excitement!
As I was screaming the drummer and I got into a fight and he told me to go home… Thank goodness it wasn’t the old lady with the .22!
Like Becky, I met Erwin McManus. As some of you know, I travel to LA every few months. When I go, I usually fly in a couple hours earlier than I need to in order to attend Mosaic.
The first time I went, I attended their “10 Minute Party” after the service. It’s for first-time visitors as well as those with questions about Jesus. The encounter was less-than-memorable. He was talking to several people and I joined their group. He said “Hi”. I said, “Hi”. Then he continued with the conversation he was in the middle of. It might sound a little rude the way I’m writing it but I didn’t take it that way. I’m sure I could have talked to him more had I stuck around a little longer but I was feeling a little awkward so I just left.
Then, last Fall Erwin spoke in Philadelphia. I went to see/listen to him speak with my Dad and older brother, Wes.
Afterward, my brother mentioned that he’d like to talk to him. For those of you who know my brother, you won’t believe that he was shy about going up to Erwin (and I’m sure he’ll deny it) but he was. It’s true. Without blinking, I said, “C’mon. Let’s go!”
So I went up to Erwin and waited patiently till others had run out of things to ask him. He looked at me and I said, “Hi. I’m Dave.” He said, “Hi Dave. I’m Erwin,” as if I didn’t know. I said, “You probably don’t remember me. I attended Mosaic when you did the ‘God Among Us’ Series (like, almost a year ago…are you sure you don’t remember me??? I mean, c’mon. How could you forget, right???). I’ve been wanting to send you a ‘thank you’ note for quite awhile. What’s the best address to send you something?” He gave me his email address. Then he asked, “So what is it you wanted to thank me for?” “Oh. Yeah. Well, I read ‘Chasing Daylight’ several months ago and it inspired me to start moving forward. You see, for the past several years I’ve been torn between two different paths: going to seminary and pursuing full-time vocational ministry work or starting my own online baseball card business.” He said, “Well, I don’t know anything about baseball cards but there’s a guy in our community who does really great sports impersonations. He can do just about everyone’s stance.” I laughed, not sure quite why I went into so much detail. “I just wanted to thank you for helping me make a decision to move, regardless of the direction. I think I’ve been paralyzed for the past few years. You helped me take a step forward. That’s all. So…thanks.” At that point, his phone rang and he was rescued from my ramblings.
Needless to say, my brother joined me only at the end…and missed his chance to impress Erwin with his leadership qualities.
I had the pleasure of meeting Max Lucado at his church in San Antonio while we were there for The Final Four in 2008. It was such a blessing to hear him give the message at his church that morning and then get to meet him and take a picture with him after the service.
He was just as kind as I imagined he would be. He really took the time to meet each person and spend time with them. That was definitely a “Bucket List” item I got to check off!
I’ve also met Daunte Culpepper (NFL Quarterback) in an elevator in an Orlando hotel. No great story… he didn’t say much… and that was fine with me. I wasn’t a Vikings fan!
Also – I got to shake hands with George Strait and ended up in his Troubadour video because he was walking right by me after a concert.
Oh Lana. I was just skimming through the posts I missed, catching up and I then I saw your picture. I busted into tears. I must miss you something fierce! I love to see how God is all over your lives, guiding, protecting, holding you all. It’s so beautiful…thanks for sharing!