KartRacerBoy Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 David Letterman used to have a part of his show where he asked people about their brushes with great people. I've been pretty lucky and had several lengthly encounters with greatness. I'll tell a few of mine but I'd love to hear yours. My first was with Paul Newman at the beginning of his racing hobby. He raced for Bob Sharp Datsun in Wilson, CT where my stepdad bought a 240Z. My stepdad modified the throttle linkage and Bob Sharp wanted to see it so we went up there and Mr, Newman was there and wanted to try the car. I think I was 10-12 at the time. It was a two seater so I tried to hang out in the luggage area. Newman drove the car like a racecar on the backroads of Fairfield county, CT. I didn't actually shit my pants but close. The man could drive and he was a farking maniac. Second, has anyone seen the original Batman TV series? I went to lunch with the Joker, Cesar Romero in the 80s. My friend Eautha Munkelwitz (I know, right?) was a bank teller in Norwalk, CT and Mr Romero was a customer at her bank and liked Eautha. He came in as we were going to lunch and asked to join us. A wonderful man. Third, I used to go to IMSA sports car races at Lime Rock, CT, and once we hung around waiting for the traffic out of the track to disappear after a race weekend. I brought a football and we were tossing it around and went into the paddock. Dan Gurney's Eagle team was there and packing up. We ended up playing touch football and I got to cover Dan Gurney, who is 8 inches taller than me. Despite this advantage, he cheats. When he was a receiver and I covered him, the son of a bitch shoved me a couple of times to get clear. He made up for this with a really good single malt scotch afterwards. A very decent man. I have others, but I'll save those. What about you folks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithcraft Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 I was at a comic book store in San Francisco, and this one part of the store was very tight to get through. This guy comes along, and he says "Excuse me." I squeeze along the wall and he squeezes by. When I go up the the register, my friends ask me what Robin Williams said to me. I was "What? Robin Williams? When?" Then working in retail in Los Angeles one gets to see many celebs. One day John de Lancie comes in and has some questions. I tired my best to contain myself, but after he left I had to ask to clock out since I was giddy with helping a favorite actor. Oh, and when I was a wee lad, my dad was trying to get into working at the studios. He's always been a talkative guy and anywhere one goes in the world you'll find someone that knows my dad. Anyways, person that he met was Bud Cort. Bud came over to my dads place a couple of times. Then some of my dads friends would get freaked out with having a famous actor in the room and Mr Cort stopped coming over. That's all I can think of right now. SC 1994 Legacy MI 2008 Legacy GT specB 2023 Crosstrek Limited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 Anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 The briefing we were given at the battalion level by General James Mattis prior to embarking to Al Anbar province Iraq. I can say with no hesitation that I would gladly follow that man into hell if he asked me to go. I guess my idea of greatness is very different than you clowns have. Actors? That is who you look up to and consider to be great men? For fucks sake that is pathetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 Of course you admire men that kill. Why am I not surprised? Is that all you admire? And of course, your ignorance ABOUNDS. Only one of the men I mentioned was purely an actor. You are such a narrow man that you wouldn't know that, of course. Breadth of knowledge is beyond you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Of course you admire men that kill. Why am I not surprised? Is that all you admire? And of course, your ignorance ABOUNDS. Only one of the men I mentioned was purely an actor. You are such a narrow man that you wouldn't know that, of course. Breadth of knowledge is beyond you. I'm not sure Jim Mattis ever personally killed anyone, that is not what makes him a great man. Leadership, and inspiring those under his command made him great. You look up to entertainers of various sorts, men of little substance ultimately in the grand scheme of the world and history. They may be or have been very decent human beings, but great? I think not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 I'm not sure Jim Mattis ever personally killed anyone, that is not what makes him a great man. Leadership, and inspiring those under his command made him great. You look up to entertainers of various sorts, men of little substance ultimately in the grand scheme of the world and history. They may be or have been very decent human beings, but great? I think not. You can't put up anything to compare to Paul Newman or Dan Gurney, shittard. You probably are too stupid to even know who Gurney was or what he accomplished. And you don't have a clue as to what I admire. Why don't you go back to your racist militia group and talk about all the great racists you admire? That would be nice. Dicks with guns. That's more your genre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 I know who Dan Gurney is, what he did, and he is an interesting fellow no doubt. From all accounts he is also a truly nice man. I just don't see the greatness in devoting all that talent towards auto racing, which is ultimately a form of entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithcraft Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 I've known plenty of men that came back from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Does that make them great? SC 1994 Legacy MI 2008 Legacy GT specB 2023 Crosstrek Limited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDII Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 KRB, tell me you've seen the Adam Corolla documentary on Paul Newman? It's fantastic. I met Steven Tyler once. Nicest celebrity I've ever met. Need forum help? Private Message legGTLT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 Yup. Great documentary. Whatever Penguin thinks, Newman was a great man. A very good racer, great actor, but best of all a humanitarian with all the money generated from the Newman's Own business and the camps for kids. Steven Tyler. How did someone so ugly produce such a gorgeous daughter? Probably my best brush with greatness happened while I was working at the EPA. I was in an elevator with Jacques Cousteau who was there to meet the Administrator. I asked him if he was aware of the climate change program of the EPA and our studies on sea level rise and coastal ecosystems. I was just a research associate but after his meeting with the big wig he came to my office asking for me. My boss' jaw just hit the floor. He actually hung around for about a half hour asking questions and collecting our literature. Truly a humble man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 See there is a great man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 I've known plenty of men that came back from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Does that make them great? SC Depends on what they did, one thing is does make them is a person who answered their country's call and did what was asked of them. That alone is a very rare trait these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 See there is a great man. You're taking this far to literally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 You're taking this far to literally. You mean too literally counselor. *spelling/grammarnazi* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 Coulda been worse. I could've been Watts and said "two literally." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Stop making fun of Watts, sometimes it is necessary to emphasize a quantity, or to quantify a literally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo03 Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Worst story ever... I was at an AT&T store once and Jeff Daniels came in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Donated thefultonhow Posted November 25, 2015 I Donated Share Posted November 25, 2015 Not me, but my grandfather worked with Robert Oppenheimer, and had a meeting with Einstein. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stm25rs Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Worst story ever... I was at an AT&T store once and Jeff Daniels came in. At least you probably got a good look at him. I was in Philly with my then-girlfriend, at the Goldberg military surplus store. We were walking up the stairs, from the basement, and passed a guy going down the stairs. After passing him, GF says "that was Bill Murray!" I turned around in time to see the back of his head. Great person story: I took a few classes with Professor Terry Hart . He joined the Air Force reserve after college, and flew jets up and down the coast, running escort missions as Russian jets went to/from Cuba. His highlight there was when a Russian tail gunner showed he was drinking a Coke, and gave the thumbs up...good sign the cold war was winding down. Then he joined NASA and went to space. Highlights of the mission, including the LDEF deployment and the Solar Max repair, were filmed using an IMAX movie camera, and the results appeared in the 1985 IMAX movie The Dream is Alive. He got to operate the camera boom. And he worked for Bell Labs, which is pretty prestigious as far as engineering work goes, and has 2 patents. Great professor, friendly guy. He came to my fraternity house for a professor appreciation dinner, so I got to have a couple beers with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatentWagen Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 I've got a few, but some of the best: When I was 17 or so, I sat a couple of rows behind Bill and Hillary Clinton at the movies (Minority Report). I was teaching tennis in Chappaqua at the time, and my co-worker and I would go to the local movie theater on long afternoon breaks. We didn't notice it was him until mid-way through the movie, after seeing the SS guys. I made the standard trip to the urinal after the film, and ended up pissing next to the former president. Then we washed up at the double sink and chatted about the plausibility of the film. Interesting moment In 2009, I met Steven Colbert at the airport. It was a Thursday evening and he was still in his suit from filming. I was headed to Jacksonville, FL and he to Columbia, SC, and our gates were right next to each other. Told him I had watched the show (Daily and then the Report) since '01, and never laughed harder than his Cheating Death segments. He agreed that those were his favorite bits, as well. We also had the same watch on, Tag Aquaracer. His wife was about a foot taller than both of us In 4th grade, John Denver told stories (about preserving the environment) and sang to my elementary school class in Tucson, AZ. He died a few years later, but I remember him being about as positive and kind a person as I'd ever met. LW's spec. B / YT / IG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 Not a brush with greatness, but one of my college roommates was from Chappaqua. Rich. He showed me pictures of two SAABs he rolled, both 99 Turbos. Instead of taking driving privileges away, his parents sent him to the best race school in the country back then -- Bob Bondurant's School of High Performance Driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDTurbo Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I've got a few, but some of the best: When I was 17 or so, I sat a couple of rows behind Bill and Hillary Clinton at the movies (Minority Report). I was teaching tennis in Chappaqua at the time, and my co-worker and I would go to the local movie theater on long afternoon breaks. We didn't notice it was him until mid-way through the movie, after seeing the SS guys. I made the standard trip to the urinal after the film, and ended up pissing next to the former president. Then we washed up at the double sink and chatted about the plausibility of the film. Interesting moment In 2009, I met Steven Colbert at the airport. It was a Thursday evening and he was still in his suit from filming. I was headed to Jacksonville, FL and he to Columbia, SC, and our gates were right next to each other. Told him I had watched the show (Daily and then the Report) since '01, and never laughed harder than his Cheating Death segments. He agreed that those were his favorite bits, as well. We also had the same watch on, Tag Aquaracer. His wife was about a foot taller than both of us In 4th grade, John Denver told stories (about preserving the environment) and sang to my elementary school class in Tucson, AZ. He died a few years later, but I remember him being about as positive and kind a person as I'd ever met. Steven Colbert is great! I already told youz about my John Denver meeting/playing his guitar as a 4y/o. Also ran into Richard Thomas (John Boy Walton) in Saratoga about 10 years ago. And I was on teevee in the 60's for a local show at WRGB where my dad worked. I believe it was the 1st TV 'station' when TV debuted in 1926. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJr Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Met with Joe Montana several times in Dec of 2000, one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet, had to call him several times a day before X-mas, he signed a bunch of memorabilia for friends and family too! Funniest thing about the time spent was I'm a die-hard Raider fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Donated Too laff79 Posted December 2, 2015 I Donated Too Share Posted December 2, 2015 -met Tommy Lasorda on the concourse of Veterans Stadium during the '93 World Series -waited on tennis great Martina Hingis at Ruby Tuesdays (nice tipper) -one of my patients is a World Series winning manager (HIPAA edit) -waited on the Jackass crew once (total nightmare) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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