Encounters with Famous People

I decided it would be fun to make a list of famous people I have met in my life. As I compiled the list, I realized that I had to first decide what constitutes "famous", and second what constitutes "meeting" someone. So, for the sake of this list, "famous" means that the person is a national figure. So, current Oklahoma governor Brad Henry, and past Oklahoma governors, Howard Edmondson, David Walters, and George Nigh did not make the cut. Sorry guys. "Meeting" someone means that words were exchanged between us. So, by this definition, being on the front row of a Who concert does not mean that I have met Pete Townshend, nor does catching Stewart Copeland's drum stick at a Police concert count as an adequate exchange. Asking Bono how he was doing and having him reply "fine", however was a meeting. Finally there are two people that have been nationally famous for brief periods of time that I left off of the list but it was difficult. They are Washington attorney John Dowd (Pete Rose prosecutor, the defender of John McCain in the Keating Five debacle) and former Penn Square Bank chief lending officer Bill Patterson, who at one time was blamed for nearly destroying Western civilization single-handedly. So now the list of famous people I have met:


Singer/Songwriter Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips. We have several mutual friends here in wonderful Oklahoma City. I met him at a wedding.


U2 Before they were famous they played in a small bar in Oklahoma City and I chatted briefly with them between sets.


The late great Shirley Hemphill from the T.V. show What's Happening. I met her when I worked as the assistant manager of Joker's Comedy Club in Oklahoma City in 1982/83.


Olympic Gold-Medalist Gymnast Shannon Miller. I met her at the home of my boss just before I was hired to be a stockbroker in 1990.


Actor/Comedian Robert Wuhl. Another encounter from Joker's.


Singer/Songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard (Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother, Home With The Armadillo). We met at London's Heathrow Airport in 1997. He was with Terry Ware, a musician from Norman, Oklahoma that was a friend of my aunt's.


Pat Paulsen. Another Joker's performer.


Actor O-Lan Jones. We met in San Francisco after a comedy improv performance in which she was cast. She has been in many movies, and is also famous for being Sam Shepard's ex-wife.


Mickey Rooney. We met at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport - a very nice guy.


LBJ - we met at the funeral for former Oklahoma governor/senator James Howard Edmondson. I was seven.


Jenny Jones. Can you believe she had a career in stand up comedy before she went on to become whatever it is she became? I can't believe it either and I saw her perform (at Joker's).


Nationally famous black republican J.C. Watts. We met when he was just a locally famous former OU quarterback.


James Garner. I met him when I was a kid and he was a huge star. He really impressed me by being a normal nice guy.


Former FEMA Director James Lee Witt. We met at DFW Airport. Very nice guy.


Graham Nash. We met in front of the Sheraton in downtown Oklahoma City just before a CSN concert.


Test Pilot Scott Crossfield. We met on a plane and had one of the most entertaining conversations of my entire life. One day I'll write about it.


Chelsea Clinton. I ran into her leaving a Broadway play. She's got her dad's charm.


T.V. Personality Byron Allen. Not the high point of my time at Joker's.


Comedian Bill Hicks. He may have been the high point of my brief career in the comedy club biz. Without a doubt, he's the most talented comic I met while working at Jokers. He died a few years later but he still has a cult following today (deservedly so).


Former OU Head Football Coach Barry Switzer.



And last but not least, Al Franken. We met at a convention I attended where he was the after-dinner speaker. There is a good story about what happened after we met that I'll need to write about some time.

Thats it. If I encounter any other famous people, I'll let you know. I know how important this stuff is in our fame-worshipping society.