If so, how did you get to meet this person? How did you react? What did you talk about? Were you happy you met him or her? Would you do so again? How impressionable was your encounter?
More often than not, these encounters are entirely coincidental. You might be walking down the street, having dinner at a restaurant, attending a party, or even a wedding. In our celebrity-obsessed culture, and lacking a monarchical system, we elevate such persons to a pedestal reserved for royalty in other countries and cultures. And when we meet such persons, often we're at a lack of words to express ourselves eloquently.
More on celebrity encounters below the fold.
Who is considered a celebrity?
A celebrity is a widely-recognized or famous person who commands a high degree of public and media attention. The word stems from the Latin adjective celeber meaning famous or celebrated. While fame is generally considered a necessary precondition for celebrity status, it is not always sufficient. There has to be a level of public interest in the person, which may or may not be connected to the reason they are famous. Many celebrities are only so for a certain amount of time, perhaps after appearing on a television program or doing something to cast them into the public eye, such as rowing the Atlantic Ocean or being the first to do something. There are also specialist celebrities, who are only celebrities to those who enjoy a particular subject and so consider them a celebrity.
Over the years, I've had the opportunity to meet a number of celebrities. Included among them
- Jesse Owens - it was at a wedding and I was still a teenager. I remember him as a very decent, soft-spoken person who was full of stories about his athletic past. One that made a terrific impression on me was Jesse recalling his return from the 1936 Berlin Olympics on a train ride from New York to Ohio - one which stopped at all the small towns en route to his home in Ohio. He remembered the train stopping late into the night at a small town in Pennsylvania. After the usual speeches and meet and greet, Jesse and his wife reboarded the train and just as it was leaving the platform, a young, well-dressed boy came running after them through the crowd and thrust a small brown paper bag in his hand. Jesse said he didn't think much of it and put the paper bag along with the dozens of other presents they were showered with. Upon his return home, he opened all the presents and in the bag was an envelope containing $10,000! Remember, this was at the height of the Great Depression in the mid-1930's. My lingering memory of this encounter was of a man who reeked of integrity and character and, given the segregated past he had to overcome in his native Alabama, with not a bitter bone in his body.
- Rod Laver - arguably the greatest tennis player who ever lived. I met him at a sports club where he was filming a commercial. I had the thrill of my life when I hit a few tennis balls with him. A perfect gentleman and one who cared deeply about his sport and the people involved in it.
- Sugar Ray Leonard - one of the greatest boxers who ever lived, I met him through one of the lawyers representing him. Ray was dynamic, easy to talk to, and had a good sense of humor. He seemed so competitive even as he talked and mesmerized the group he was talking to.
- Joe Theismann - he was giving a speech at a local restaurant where he was honored for his years as the Super Bowl winning quarterback of the Washington Redskins. I'd met him before at a sports club through a mutual friend and he seemed to love talking. And full of enthusiasm and zest. A remarkable athlete and one I remember fondly from my youth as an ardent fan of the Redskins.
- Michael Collins - was the third astronaut (command module pilot) of the famous Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. A nice, quiet, unassuming man, he was very generous to me and a friend of a former boss of mine. I remember I was in total awe of him as I'd met him quite unexpectedly at work.
So, there you have it. I could list quite a few more but it's your turn to share your interesting encounters with celebrities.
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