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BRUSH with GREATNESS is the fun website where common people
share their exciting and nice stories of celebrity encounters and sightings!
Feel free to take part in and contribute to this celebrity-oriented website
or simply sit back and read and enjoy the many brushes found within!
PLEASE NOTE
a TRUE brush with greatness is when a normal
human being sees (or casually interacts with) a celebrity
or important famous person when that celebrity or important
person is NOT working at their usual fun celebrity job...
For example, a brush with greatness is NOT
simply seeing a famous person performing
at a concert or seeing a famous athlete
performing at a standard sporting event.
Share your own BRUSH with GREATNESS™ HERE
Steve in Denver, Colorado had these brushes...
I have had several brushes with greatness.
Weird Al Yankovic and I watched the movie 'Inner Space'
at the same theater here in Denver, and my friend who was with me said:
'turn around and look who this is',
and I shook Weird Al's hand and stumbled up the stairs that led to
the ground level of the theater, which made Al laugh, so I was excited.
I met the character actor G.W. Bailey after a short story reading he did here in Denver.
I knew he was gonna be there and I was ready with camera and sharpie and a piece of paper.
I took a picture with him, as well as one of just him,
which I scanned with the autograph.
I met comedian Margaret Cho at a special invitation only
after show party at The Paramount Theater here in Denver.
She was so cool, and very nice.
I have her autograph and I took a photo with her.
I saw actor James Coburn driving a Jaguar in L.A. in the 1970's.
I spoke to Steve Martin at a Q&A after a film festival
that showed his great movie 'Pennies From Heaven'.
Many years later I wrote to him and asked for an autograph.
He signed the picture I had sent with a very nice inscription.
Actor Laurence Fishburne walked right by me
at the public radio station I still work for here in Denver
after an interview promoting 'Boyz In Tha Hood'.
After he had walked by me I said to myself,
'Hey, that's Larry Fishburne'. and he was out the door and gone.
I met actor Tony Plana who appears now in 'Ugly Betty' as her father.
He has been in a LOT of TV shows and movies,
notably in 'An Officer and A Gentleman'.
I met him after a short story reading as well here in Denver.
Adam in Cincinatti, Ohio had this brush...
When I was in high school (circa 1996) I went to Sudsy Malone's in Cincinatti.
It's a bar / venue / landromat. It's right across the street from a larger venue, Bogart's.
Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilot's was performing at Bogarts the following night. He was doing a solo tour.
He came into Sudsy's with his entourage and sat down next to me at the bar. I was never a big STP fan,
but I knew immediately who he was. I struck up a casual conversation. He was very friendly if not a bit out of it.
I asked him if it was true that STP used to stand for Shirley Temple's Pussy.
He said it was true, but the record company asked them to change it for obvious reasons.
I asked him why he didn't change it to "Surely Temples Pussy"
and he asked me where the fuck I was years ago
when they were renaming the damn band.
He offered to buy me a beer, but I was underage.
I have one other brush with greatness story...but it's my dad's story not mine.
My dad was an engineer for Cummins Engine Company...when they were in an sponsorship deal
with Valvoline for their Indy and Supertruck racing programs. Dad was the Director of Motorsports Technology.
So basically he played with race cars all day.
You may be aware Paul Newman owns his own racing team, Newman/Haas/Lanigan.
Dad was at the track walking through the rows of garages when he bumped into Mr. Newman.
Of course he immediately recognized who he was, but didn't want to let on.
Dad introduced himself and told him which team he was with.
"I didn't catch your name though," he said.
Without missing a beat Paul smiled and shook dad's hand,
"Robert Redford's the name. Very nice to meet you."
He got to rub elbows with some other cool celebrities,
but that story is definitely my favorite.
Michael in Los Angeles, CA had this brush...
Many years ago I heard that Bobby Kennedy was landing in Long Beach
and then going to Los Angeles to campaign for President. I was about 10 years old
and thought it would be cool to stand by the freeway onramp and wave as he went by.
My brother and I stood by the ramp as the entourage passed and went toward the wrong ramp.
They realised their mistake and stopped.
There in the convertable right in front of us was Bobby Kennedy.
He called us over and shook our hands. He looked tired and needed a shave.
They backed up all of the cars and got on the correct freeway entrance,
and Bobby was shot dead the next day.
Zanny from Oregon had this brush...
I was at the Arcade Fire concert in Portland, OR, on May 27th, 2007,
and while I was outside the venue I saw Colin Meloy from The Decemberists --
my third-favorite band -- standing not six inches from me, facing me.
I didn't say anything though, mostly because I wasn't sure if it were really him,
but later investigation revealed that Meloy was indeed there to see the show.
I'm still kicking myself for not saying anything to him.
MusicFiles had this brush...
In 1975 Paul McCartney begged a bucket of ice
from us in Norris,Tennessee while we were staying at a cabin.
He was with his family and I believe was recording nearby.
Strange deal about it was nobody seemed to care.
Marilyn had these brushes...
My son was in a preschool for special needs children in Cedar Rapids, IA.
The classroom aide was a very sweet and pretty lady named Diane.
At the end of the year, the class held a picnic at a nearby park.
The picnic was in the evening, so people could bring their families.
Diane brought her three teenaged children, Chris, Michael and Tausha.
My son took an instant liking to Michael
and followed him around the whole time.
Chris seemed to be getting all the attention though.
He did say hi to me though, as I passed by.
I was more interested in keeping an eye on my son.
Fast forward several years and Chris Kutcher went to
Hollywood and became Ashton Kutcher.
How I wish I had taken pictures.
Another celebrity sighting was circa 1975.
I was picketing with a large group at a beauty pageant.
Sammy Davis Jr was playing in a celebrity golf
tournament nearby and was going to appear at the
pageant as a favor to one of the sponsors.
He wouldn't cross our picket line.
He came in one of those huge celebrity tour buses and got out
and made a little speech about how he had marched in Selma, etc
and wouldn't cross a picket line.
He was even shorter in person, than he appeared in movies.
I met Tommy Roe while he was performing at a local boat show.
He signed an autograph and listened
politely as I embarrassed myself by gushing over him.
Donna Wright (is she famous enough?) the manager of
The Backstreet Boys, was my gym leader in high school.
She was named "Class Flirt" in the high school yearbook.
Cheryl in Edinburg, Texas had this brush...
I stood next to Steven Tyler from Aerosmith
in the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam
while he watched a museum video.
He turned around and looked at me
on his way out of the museum July 2007
Jim in Palm Springs, CA had these brushes...
Growing up in Palm Springs I had a bunch of brushes.
During high school, while on a walk-a-thon to raise money
for some charity this Bentley drove up and stopped.
A very short man at the wheel (he could barely
see out the car window) asked us for directions.
We all realized at the same time that it was Kirk Douglas.
We told him how to get where he wanted to go and
he said thanks and took off but not before we all yelled
"Have a great day Kirk!".
He waved as he drove away.
When I was kid I had a paper route that had a lot of swanky homes on it.
One day in December I was collecting for the paper
and knocked on the door of a really nice home.
Usually the maid paid me at this place.
This time a man who looked vaguely familiar answered.
He paid me and said he had a special present for me for Christmas.
He went away (with me hoping for some cash)
and came back with a small 5x7 inch painting
of a funky looking clown.
He gave it to me and said Merry Christmas.
I was totally unimpressed. I was probably 11 at the time and just not into clowns.
About a block later it just got to be too much of a hassle to carry on my bike,
so I dumped it in a neighbor's trash can. It wasn't until much later in life that
I saw the same painting (or one in its style) on display at an art show.
The painting was done by Red Skelton.
That clown painting (which was smaller than
the one he had given me) was selling
for around $10,000.
Jeffrey in Little Falls, Arkansas had these brushes...
I was working at the big mall in Syracuse and
Jimmy "The Mouth of the South" Hart walked by.
He was in town for some wrestling event.
I was at a urinal at La Guardia Airport and at the
next urinal was Louis Rukeyser, the PBS personality
Zach had these brushes...
My first brush with greatness was back in 1985. I was 14 yrs old and sitting in the
Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City waiting for my Aunt Betty to come off a plane.
About 10 minutes before the plane arrived, a couple of
well-dressed guys who looked like the Secret Service showed up.
Everybody knew something was up and we all
started speculating as to who was on board.
We figured it must be some big politician.
We were not even close.
A few minutes after the plane arrived, the biggest star
on televison, Bill Cosby walked right into the waiting area.
He shook hands with the security guys and then
started to walk right towards where I was sitting.
He got so close he actually brushed right by arm! LOL
It was very surreal to see the biggest star on TV that close.
Especially in Oklahoma City!
As it turns out, he was in town to do
a lecture at Oklahoma University.
I don't know if this one counts or not because it was more
planned than an accident but I still wanted to tell it.
I flew out to NYC this past November for a few days to see some relatives,
go to the Natural History Museum, the Late Show and see an off-Broadway play
with my cousin called Suddenly Last Summer.
The museum was nice, Times Square was amazing and The Late Show
was really neat because I had never been to a talk show before.
I even got to see Robin Williams
for the first time which was really cool.
But the highlight of my trip BY FAR, was meeting the gorgeous
and lovely Carla Gugino outside the theater after her play.
I've gotta admit I've had a big crush on this woman for a very long time so when
I heard that sometimes the cast meets fans afterwards, there was no way
I was about to pass up the opportunity!
Anyway, several of us play attendees waited outside for what
seemed like forever because it was kinda chilly and raining at times.
About a half hour later some people started to walk away.
45 minutes later even more people left.
I was beginning to think it wasn't going to happen and was about
ready to hail a taxi when all of a sudden, Carla and another actress came
right out the front door and started signing autographs.
I almost had a heart attack! I quickly told my cousin to ready
the camera and then grabbed my favorite photo of Carla.
As I slowly walked over to her, she had her back turned
to me because she was talking to some other fans.
But just as I came up to her, she turned around and looked up at me
with those gorgeous green eyes of hers and smiled. I almost fainted!
I was so damn nervous that I was just praying that something
would come out of my mouth other than "Uhh...me...like you...lots!"
I handed her my picture and asked her to autograph it.
She looked at me, then at the pic and then back at me again
and then said nicely, "Umm, I don't have a pen anymore to sign with..."
I was like "Whups!... My Bad!" (I know...what a doofus right?) Haha.
So after fumbling around in my pocket for what seemed an eternity,
I finally found my marker and handed it to her. As she was signing the pic,
I told her how fantastic she was in the play and also told her that
I came all the way from Michigan to see her.
She seemed very impressed by that and thanked me.
I wanted to say a lot more but I didn't want to hold her up too long and I was
also kinda tongue-tied (always happens when I'm around beautiful women).
But I did manage to ask her if I could get my picture taken with her and she said yes.
That was frickin AWESOME!
So we stood next to each other and put our arms around each other
(at this point, I was in Heaven! LOL) and then my cousin took our picture.
I then thanked Carla and watched as she walked down the
streeet, jumped in a cab and then drove away into the night.
It was a great experience and one I won't soon forget.
Zach with the gorgeous and lovely Carla Gugino
Jane in Dana Point, CA had this brush...
I was in a car next to Sting one time.
We both had our windows rolled down so he was only like 4 feet away.
Jeffrey in Little Falls had these many brushes...
In the 1980's, I worked at an art supplies store in midtown Manhattan.
These are some famous folks who came in to browse...
Daniel J. Travanti (from Hill St. Blues)
David McCallum (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
Geoffrey Holder (famous dancer)
David Brinkley
Jack Palance (this was during the "Believe It or Not" TV show)
Morley Safer
Al Lewis (Grandpa Munster)
Trevor Horn (lead singer of Yes on the "Drama" album)
Chuck Barris, who came in with a woman who would later be
played by Julia Roberts in the movie "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind"
Carol Alt -- she came in on a Saturday and ordered furniture.
Nice looking lady, I thought.
She came back later that week all decked out, with makeup,
hair done, etc., and she stopped traffic, literally.
Kurt Vonnegut would come in regularly -- he lived around the corner.
Living in NYC, I've run into Marvin Hamlisch on the street,
Mel Brooks at FAO Schwarz, and rode an elevator with 'Professor' Irwin Corey.
When I was much younger, I met Jimmy Hoffa at the Orlando FL airport.
My brother knew who he was and asked him if he had a good time at Disney World.
I don't remember his response, but he asked me how I liked it, and I said 'OK'.
Mr. Hoffa told me that I should say "Excellent!" I said 'OK'.
I lived in Syracuse for a while, and ran into David Foster Wallace at a party (in the early 90's)
and knew Mary Karr, who teaches at Syracuse University. I also ran into Chuck Negron from Three Dog Night once.
Last year, I was walking through a hotel in downtown Toronto and Judy Collins walked right by me.
One time in an airport I saw Rony Seikaly, a Syracuse and later professional basketball star.
I've also seen some movies and TV shows being filmed, but I guess you can say
that the 'stars' were working, so they don't really count. I also attend many trade shows,
and sometimes celeberities are there signing books, so I won't count them, either.
Thanks for allowing me to share my memories!
Maria in Escondido, CA had these brushes...
Around Christmas time last year I was in the mall here in Escondido,CA
when I ran into Tony Gwynn. He was just shopping for Christmas gifts.
I said "HI" and he just talked to me as if nothing was going on.
He is a very nice person and down to earth.
When I used to work for Best Buy, Tony Hawk and his family would
always come in and shop around. His kids would always run around
the store while he and his wife would shop in the video game section.
And it was funny because not very many people even knew who he was.
My husband and I saw former baseball star David Justice (you know the guy
that was married to Halle Berry) at high school football games every Friday.
When we asked him if he knew anyone on the team
he said no he just likes to come out and watch
Bob in New York had this brush...
This was probably 13 years ago but I just saw your website.
It was a funny encounter with Jackie Mason which makes it notable.
A buddy of mine was staying just off Columbus Circle in Manhattan with his step-dad.
We walked outside to get lunch and as we were waiting for the light, my friend suddenly, loudly said,
"Look! Its Jackie Mason"! I looked over and there he was, buying a hotdog from a street vendor.
My friend's alarm immediately got Jackie's attention - as well as everyone within 100 feet of us who
promptly rushed to the now conspicuous Mr. Mason. Although we did not move, the whole
crowd converged on Jackie's position and as they did, he stood just staring at us with a blank,
unflinching look as if not even seeing the mass developing around him.
So we went to lunch, had pizza, 20 minutes later, we are headed back and come around the corner
and there he is again! Standing, speaking casually with two police officers probably on the beat,
the crowd now gone. He saw my friend and without pausing for a moment,
yelled, "Look! Its the guy from the hotdog stand ! "
I almost fell down laughing!
Dayle in Orange Park, FL had this brush...
On November 12, 2006, I was in LA, as a passenger in a car.
I saw Julie Newmar eating with another person
at a restaurant on Hollywood Blvd.
They were sitting in the outdoor section of the restaurant.
She looked great! Very classy and elegant.
Thomas in Vancouver had this brush...
In 1968, I was beginning High School
in Vancouver and had a neighbor Diane (who I fancied)
as well as a battered twin lens Rolliflex camera (which I could scarcely use,
but looked rather cool carrying, I thought...) Diane invited me over to her house
early on a Saturday morning to meet her family and her cousin, who was a musician,
and to take a few pictures of their family reunion.
The extended family was going to stay at her mother's house for the night, and I was invited.
Well, ... it was Jimi Hendrix, who, I was far too young to appreciate,
but I can vividly remember sitting on the floor with him, playing children's card
games with the kids, eating cornbread and listening to his new unreleased album
(it was in two large brown paper envelopes).
He was a gentleman, gracious and relieved to be at home with family.
I recall, he was very very thin, and rather dignified.
Dan in Fort Lauderdale, FL had this brush...
Back in the early '80's I was living in Boston and used to cut through
the Ritz Carlton lobby on my way to work. Once, as I was going through the revolving-door,
a woman was coming out. Only then did I realize it was Jackie O...the woman of the century !!!
I was so surprised as we came face-to-face, I stammered "Jackie!", like an idiot.
She smiled and said in that breathy voice, "Hello, how nice to see you in Boston".
I don't know who she mistook me for, but it was definitely my most impressive encounter.
Ten seconds, tops. She was in Boston for the opening of the Kennedy Library.
I let her pass and proceeded to follow behind her for a block as she got into a limo.
WOW, what a handsome woman.
Neil in Ontario, Canada had these two brushes...
A few years ago I dropped into a liquor store in a small Canadian village
near where I was camping. There was one other person in the store besides the clerk.
Concentrating on searching the shelves for what I wanted, I took no notice of the other customer.
I eventually found what I was looking for and took it to the cash register.
I was standing behind the other customer, gazing around the store waiting my turn to pay
when I heard the clerk say, "Do you want your change in Canadian or American, Dan?"
When the other customer answered I immediately recognized the voice.
I was standing behind Dan Aykroyd.
It then dawned on me I had heard he lived in the area.
He paid for his purchase, left the store and got into the drivers seat of a vintage
yellow Buick Super 8 convertible in which a couple of other fellows had been waiting.
They uncorked the bottle, each had a swig and they drove away.
One footnote, he's a lot bigger than I thought he was.
Neil in Ontario, Canada had this brush...
A few years after I realized that Dan Aykroyd lived in my area
I walked out my front door and Malcolm, my neighbor two doors down,
was polishing a yellow and black vintage Bentley.
I wandered over and asked him what was going on. He told me his boss
was a personal friend of Dan Aykroyd and Aykroyd had lent it to him,
Malcolm, for his daughters wedding.
Needless to say half the neighborhood let Malcolm
take us for a ride around the block that evening.
A few months later I was driving down a two lane highway
and low and behold the vintage Bentley was coming towards me.
Realizing it was one of Dan Aykroyds cars, I was trying to catch a glimpse of the driver.
When it came abreast of me I was rather disappointed to see it wasn't Aykroyd
but rather, a bespectacled man who, in my opinion, resembled Michael Keaton.
When I got home, I related to my wife what I had seen and she showed
me an article in the local paper that stated that Michael Keaton
was visiting Dan Aykroyd's estate on Loughboro Lake which
is connected to that particular highway.
Was it him, I can't be sure. Does he wear glasses for driving?
Michael in Irvine, CA had this brush...
I met Wilt Chamberlain while he was signing autographs for
an "insiders only" party prior to a major public event by Honda. I myself do not
enjoy the game I had a friend who's son would be thrilled to have the autograph.
When it was my turn, I meant to say something like
"It's an honor to meet you. Could you sign this to "insert name of friend?"
What I actually started with was "I'm not really a fan..."
Wilt said (not so friendly) something like "Why are you bothering me then?"
and I tried to explain myself. Poorly. He died shortly after.
I know it wasn't my fault but I still felt bad.
John in Piscataway had these brushes...
It was late 80's early 90's, when I used to work in the mailroom of a company
that rents out sheet music. One day on my way to lunch, I got in the elevator
just as it was closing and I look over and - it's Marvin Hamlisch!
I barely managed to keep myself from saying "You're Marvin Hamlisch!"
(because, really, he probably already knew that) He did nod a slight but not encouraging
acknowledgement of my staring. I stuttered some comment about how we had all
new prints of "A Chorus Line" going out, but he just kind of grunted in response.
He is very tall, easily 6'4"
There was a school in the church next door to that building, where Kurt Vonnegut
used to bring his young daughter (or granddaughter?) to kindergarten.
Even though he was/is one of my all time heroes, I felt I had to respect his privacy
as he spent time with her. It was nice to see that same gentleness that suffuses his
writing on display in the way he carried her on his shoulders or bent down to speak with her.
God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut
Mark in Indianapolis USA had these brushes...
While whizzing at a Vegas casino, I noticed a gray suited man
approach the urinal next to me. I only noticed while drying my hands,
it was Don Knotts. I had the courtesy not to bother him while he relieved himself.
When he came out of the bathroom, there was a small group of drunk
fans stupidly saying "Heey Don!" He fixed his gaze forward and walked quickly
away from us. Elitist snob... Why didn't he want to party with a bunch
of drunks hanging around the bathroom?
I had a job dubbing tapes in Los Angeles in the late Eighties and worked all hours.
There was a talent agency next door that auditioned people for commercials.
Walking down hall past the talent on the way to the vending machine
around 1 AM, there was an actor rehearsing his lines enthusiastically.
Smiling broadly, he said something to me like, "Use Crelm toothpaste for whiter teeth"
Amusing moment...I'm convinced it was Greg Kinnear.
But he wasn't famous at the time. It wasn't until Talk Soup that I recognized him.
Jon in Brooklyn, New York had these brushes...
I saw Janeane Garofalo at Bob Zmuda's (Andy Kaufman's best friend and writer) book signing
event at the Astor Place Barnes & Noble right before the movie 'Man in the Moon' came out.
She was sitting with a friend in the audience blending in with the crowd, but I knew it was her.
I didn't want to make a scene, so I just discreetly got her attention and whispered,
"Excuse me, I don't want to make a big scene, but I'm a big fan."
I could see by the look on her face that she appreciated my understanding
that she didn't care to be recognized and steal the spotlight from Zmuda.
She smiled, nodded and whispered, "Thank you." She's tiny.
While he was performing in Steppenwolf's production of 'One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest', I saw Gary Sinise giving directions to two tourists in Times Square.
They had no idea who he was. I was on my bike as I was passing by.
I saw his performance before then, so I got all excited pointed and yelled,
"HEY!....good......job.......man!" He said, "Hey, thanks, buddy!" I'm not worthy.
I saw John C. Reilly coming out of a theater on 52nd Street (he's playing 'Stanley'
in a current run of Streetcar) he said goodbye to someone and went into his Lincoln.
I passed by on my bike and gave him a thumbs up. He just looked straight ahead.
I saw Bill Maher walking down Broadway around the time he was doing his one-man-show.
Someone passing by complimented him on his show and he said thank you.
I'm including this because I had no idea how short he is.
I think my grandmother is taller.
I saw Sean Hannity hailing a taxi on 6th Avenue. I drive a bicycle rickshaw in NYC.
I asked him for a ride he said no. I told him how much I liked Hannity & Colmes
He said, "Hey, thanks man," (kind of mumbling it)
I was sitting in a taxi cab and saw Ted Turner talking to Gerald Levin
(then Time Warner chairman) right before Turner merged with Time Warner.
They were waiting to cross the street on 6th Ave. I recognized him and his voice right away.
I pointed out to the driver who that was that we passed, and the driver smiled blankly,
nodded and said, "Yeah!" He had no idea that was Ted Turner.
Given the events of the next day, I can only imagine exactly what Gerald and Ted
were talking about. They were right across the street from the old Time Warner building.
I was playing a clown as a teenager in 1988 for a charity event in a hangar at
JFK Airport with my high school. There I got a chance to see Leaping Lanny Poffo
from the then called WWF (now WWE), Randy Savage's brother.
I told him my friend wanted to be a wrestler and asked him what he
had to do to become a wrestler. I was 14, so I didn't think it was
a stupid question at the time.
He smirked and said, "It's very hard." Thanks.
In the fall of 2004, right before his bypass surgery I was sitting around
the parking lot of Central Park's 'Tavern on the Green', and out walks this
handsome looking guy with white hair and a suit, casually
leaving the place like he was Joe Schmo.
I looked at this guy long and hard and realised that it was Bill Clinton.
Apparently, so did dozens of other people. Someone (who was apparently a Republican)
heckled him about raising taxes. Now, normally when a former president encounters
a loser like this, he smiles waves and gets whisked away in his limousine.
But, Bill Clinton started debating him! The secret service guys were going nuts
as an entire crowd of blue-staters formed to watch the former president and
this dude with a stroller arguing over economic policies.
Then he took questions from the normal people off the street that gathered around him.
NYC parks officials were called down to patrol the scene. He also took pictures with
tourists, mostly young and female. There was no media present. This guy's amazing.
Curt in Minnesota / Amsterdam had these brushes...
We were staying at the Universal studios Sheraton in CA for vacation in 1995
and saw John Forsythe at the front desk when we went to pick up our key.
He was about 10 feet away at the counter around the corner
and noticed that we recognized him. When we walked that direction
I think he thought we were going to go over and say hi to him but we
just kept walking. I turned around and he looked a little surprised.
I gave him a little wave and he nodded and said HI.
According to the desk clerk, he lived in a suite at the top of the hotel.
I was visting a high school friend of mine in Houston TX in 1985
and his brother told me that a guy from ZZ Top lived just a few blocks away.
I borrowed my friend's BWM R90S motorcycle and drove around to see
if I could find his house. When I drove by, Dusty Hill was standing in his driveway
looking at an old hot rod. I stopped by and said HI and he said "nice bike".
I told him it wasn't mine, but he could drive it but if he wanted.
I asked if I could take a photo of him and he said to hold on and he went
in the house and brought out someone that took a photo of both of us.
He was a really nice guy, considering I just dropped in unannounced.
When I told him I also played bass he said the band was coming over on Sunday
and asked if I wanted to jam with them. I was shocked at his offer but since I'm not
in their league musically, I thanked him but politely declined.
He asked where I was from and when I told him he said they were playing in St. Paul
that summer and said if I called Bill Ham, his manager a few weeks before the show
that he would give me free passes. I never talked to Bill but I left a message.
On the night of the concert I invited another couple along. We went to the will-call desk
but the road manager had the guest list and he wasn't there yet. After the warm-up band
had been playing for a while, we finally convinced the guard to let us in.
A girl inside let me use her backstage pass to go back and get our passes
from their road manager. When I finally found him, it turned out we weren't
even on the list. It was a good concert though.
Al Goldstein and Paul Krassner
I was at the 1999 Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam...Paul Krassner
was being inducted into the Hall of Fame at this particular event
I didn't meet Krassner, but I ran into Al Goldstein,
the infamous NYC publisher of the 60's "Screw" magazine
I gave him some free tips about promoting his website
and he gave me his business card and a big Cuban cigar.
At the same show we ran into another visitor from NYC at the cup, Ed Feldman
one half of the "Furniture Guys" from the cable show " Furniture on the Mend".
He seemed surprised that we recognized him and he
was nice to us, but said to please not take his picture.
1972 on a school band trip to Florida I ran into Jim Nabors
walking through the tunnel through the Cinderella castle in Disneyworld.
I forgot his real name and said "You're, ahh, ahh, Gomer Pyle".
He gave me a friendly "Well Howdee" and I wandered away.
I looked back and saw he got mobbed after I left, I felt a little guilty.
In 1976 I went to a very small party with two friends to a house
near the beach in Corpus Christi TX, Rick Hilton and his date stopped in for
about an hour and partied with the 6 of us. Evidently his date
was staying with a relative next door.
Around 1977 or 78 I was at Burns' Music in Bloomington,
the store was a converted house in a residential neighborhood.
Jim Burns told me he had a new bass teacher there that I should talk to.
I went into the studio and quizzed him a bit. I asked how long he'd been teaching
and he said he just started. I asked him if he'd ever played in a band and he said,
"Yeah, Steppenwolf, twice." That was embarassing. I ended up taking 5 bass lessons from
Nick St Nicholas until he quit and started a new band, Wolf.
In 1981 when I lived downtown in Houston at the Houston House,
(a high-rise apartment with hotel rooms on the bottom 2 floors) I rode
the elevator up with Yul Brynner. He was in town to do a play and was
accompanied by two much taller blondes and was on his way to
visit one of the other cast member's hotel suite.
He said "Hi", but that's about it. He sure wasn't very tall.
I saw and said "HI" to Gregory Hines outside of the Fargo airport in 1987
when a pilot friend of mine flew up there to gamble on Good Friday.
The casino was closed but at least I saw someone famous.
He looked very out of place there, I regret not asking
him why on earth he was in Fargo.
While I was standing out behind the Target center in Minneapolis
with my girlfriend who was hoping to see the band after a Cure concert in 1996,
Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day walked up with some girl
and another couple and asked for a light.
They didn't play, they just came to hear the Cure.
September 2002 we went to Iceland for 5 days and stayed at the Radisson Saga.
One day while we were eating breakfast a big limo pulled up and I joked
"Hey, Bjork's back". Instead, in walked Ron Jeremy.
He came directly over to the breakfast buffet where I was loading up on seconds.
I said "I bet you get tired of everyone saying how much you look like Ron Jeremy",
He said "Hi, how are you?", "How's the food here?".
He was in town to promote his film in a theater across the street.
He invited us to the premiere and probably made a few people wonder
who we were when he turned to his companions and said:
"I told you they'd show up!, they're the hotel people"
Here's a picture of me with Ron after the movie premiere.
Derek in (did not say) had this brush...
Once when I was a kid, Phyllis Diller came to our town
to play a concert with our local symphony orchestra.
Apparently, before she came a comedian she was trained
as a concert pianist...who knew? Because my mom was on
the symphony board, my brother and I (we were about 10
and 12 I guess) got to go backstage after the concert.
We went up to Phyllis and she smiled at us and I was
just opening my mouth to say something dumb like "we
really liked your concert" when the assbag publisher
of the local newpaper burst into the room with his
arms spread wide and yelled "Phyllis!" like they'd
known each other all their lives and physically
dragged her away from us and started introducing her
to people whose families were clearly much higher on
the food chain than ours.
We stood there like idiots for a couple of minutes
and were just about to leave when she turned away
from the assbag publisher's friends and started looking
around the room. "Where are the boys?" she said loudly.
"Where are the boys?"
She saw us and came bustling over and hugged us both,
and when we told her we thought she was terrific she
threw her head back and laughed that famous cackling
laugh of hers and hugged us again.
Talk about a class act.
Rich in Oklahoma had these brushes...
In early 1990, I was waiting for the bus to take me back to the terimal at DFW.
The bus arrived, the door opened off and stepped a guy dressed from head to toe in leather,
with a leather hat holding a guitar case. It was Stevie Ray Vaughn.
I could not get up the courage to say anything to him -
- only the lame "You are awesome!" came to mind anyway...
which I later regreted as he was killed about 6 months later.
In 1980, my friends and I went to Berkeley to see The Talking Heads and
The English Beat in concert. We were walking through town at dusk when coming
down the street from the other direction was David Byrne. We turned and followed him
and his pal (an English chap) until the English guy turned around to confront us.....
we were at least 8 inches taller than either of them...we probably scared them!
We told him we were just in town for the show...and shook Mr. Byrne's hand.
He was quiet, but gracious. It was an awesome show.
The same group of guys saw Duck Dunn of the Blues Brothers band
(and more importantly, of Booker T and the MGs) at a golf tournament.
We followed him around, keeping our distance. We eventually went up to him to shake
his hand. He assumed we knew him from the Blues Brothers (we were high school students)
and was surprised that we were more interested in the MGs. A real nice guy.
We also ran into the drummer for the Edgar Winter Group...
can't remember his name, but he played on "Frankenstein",
so that is pretty cool, right?!
EDITOR'S NOTE
The Edgar Winter Group's drummer was Chuck Ruff
Kent in Long Beach, CA had these brushes...
On my return from Ireland in January 2004, I saw Ron Jeremy
in Chicago's O'Hare airport. I asked if he were Ron Jeremy. He gruffly said yes
and walked away. I believe he might have been on a promotional tour for the release of the
DVD about his life, and maybe he was very tired.
I ended up flying back to L.A. on the same plane with him (he was flying coach).
Finally (perhaps, unless I recall more later), I think I saw Rhea Perlman
leaving L.A.'s Southwest Museum of the American Indian as I was arriving.
Ms. Perlman starred in the TV hit "Cheers," and she is (still?) married to Danny Devito.
Of course, it might only have been a very short woman who resembled the actress.
In 1968, my junior-high-school drama teacher and career counselor
(or advisor or whatever they were called) at Dodson Junior
High School in San Pedro was the father of Mike Lookinland
AKA Bobby Brady of "The Brady Bunch"
My high-school girlfriend had babysat for
the Lookinlands, who lived in her neighborhood in Pedro.
I can't remember the year...sometime between 1987 and 1990, I imagine.
I went to a group discussion on modern music at UCLA that included
Frank Zappa and Pierre Boulez (this was shortly after "The Real Frank Zappa Book"
was published). I met a short woman in the parking structure on campus, and
she and I were heading in the same direction. We walked together, and I asked if she
were attending the discussion. She wasn't. She was attending the showing of her
boyfriend's film. She looked familiar, so I asked if she might have appeared in any films.
She told me she had been in a hit TV sitcom for several years.
As I said, she looked familiar, but I had no idea who she was.
She was Lydia Cornell, who played Sara Rush on "Too Close for Comfort"
I got her autograph on a matchbook (now since lost, I'm sure).
I was afraid my girlfriend would be mad if I met a famous person
without getting an autograph.
I was living in Hermosa Beach (I'm terrible with dates) around 1987-1990.
While skating on the Strand, I passed an older couple walking along.
Because the man looked familiar, I stopped a bit ahead of them, looked back,
and waited until they caught up.
The gentleman was Donald Moffat (how could one not recognize those eyebrows!).
I remembered him from the "Logan's Run" television series, but he's been
in many, many films and television shows ("Clear and Present Danger," "Housesitter,"
"Waiting for Godot," "One Life to Live," the list goes on and on).
He told me he and his wife were living in either Hermosa or Manhattan Beach.
Jack in Los Angeles had this brush...
okay...here goes... in the early 60's, I was working in guest relations at American Broadcasting....
we were doing a show called the Hollywood Palace which was a takeoff on the early days of vaudeville...
a headliner and a few smaller acts on the same show....
They rehearsed all week and did a taping on Saturday afternoons and evenings....
the best one, or at least the best parts were the ones that were broadcast....
That week that Judy Garland taped.....although she was an exceptional performer...
she was always late and a bit neurotic...after the second show finished taping...
I was asked to go backstage and help her and her then husband Mark Herron
carry her personal things to her car....Offstage she was this little meek...
frightened person who appeared to be afraid of
everything and suspicious of everyone.....
But onstage...while performing...it was electrifying
Chris in Elkhart, Indiana had these brushes...
While my Mother and I were driving south to Florida, we had stopped
at a Howard Johnson's in Chattanooga, TN and the singer Mac Davis was
sitting in the restaurant aboout two tables away. As I recall the service was atrocious
and his party got up and left in a bit of a huff after not getting their order in a timely fashion.
When I was 12 my Mom took me to see the great drummer Buddy Rich
right here in the humble town of Elkhart. We arrived early and walked to our
seats just in time to see Buddy stepping down off his drum riser.
Apparently he had just finished a sound check. My Mom urged me to
take a pen and paper and go to the stage to try and get Buddy's autograph.
I trotted to stage right and saw no one, so I went on up a short staircase,
right onto the stage and into the stage right wing.
It was dark back there and I walked cautiously between the long,
tall curtains all the way to a very heavy doorway that had a sign reading
'NO ADMITTANCE".
I was not that brave then so I turned and headed back the way I'd come.
As I moved through the dark a man passed within a foot of me and
went through that big, imposing door.
It was Buddy. I had missed my chance.
In 1979 I snuck into a bar in a nearby city and sat front and center to see Son Seals play.
The crowd was very sparse that night and after his second set, Son came down
off the stage, looked left, looked right, then looked right at me.
I said to him, "Great set, Son..." (I wasn't bullshitting... it WAS a great performance)
and he freaked me right out by sitting down in the chair next to me.
We talked music for a bit and then he asked why I thought there
were so few people in the place that night.
I told him I thought it was because that community was more of a rock and roll crowd.
I shook his hand as he went to begin his next set. I have never seen a man sweat
as much as Son Seals did that night. Son died December 20th, 2004.
Just this past January I went to see the legendary Magic Slim and The Teardrops
perform at a small blues bar. As I walked in with a very dear lady friend of mine,
Magic was sitting right there at the bar having a drink before he began his show.
I walked up to him and shook his hand. He then signed a CD of his
I'd brought with me for that reason.
We had another guy snap a photo of Magic, my lady friend and me all
together and afterward, my gal said that Magic had copped a feel while
we stood there! I had a good laugh at that one. She didn't really mind.
In about 1998 or 99 David Letterman's Mom, Dorothy, was in town selling her cookbook
with all proceeds going to the Lions Club Children's Fund. For twenty bucks I got the book
and had her sign it. At the time, I was producing a much hated cable access TV program and
she let me sit next to her as she said into our video camera, "Me and Dave love Life As ART..." ,
that being the name of the program. I shook her hand and kissed her on the right cheek.
She is a very sweet lady.
In 1997 I went to a blues festival in a nearby city to see the late great Luther Allison perform.
I always drove my friends insane by insisting that we arrive AT LEAST two hours early
so as to procure good festival seats right up front. On that particular day in August it was
very warm for northern Indiana and the crowd was slow arriving. As we were setting up our spot,
I scanned the side-stage area where performers enter and exit and there was Luther standing
all by himself looking out into the seating area.
I grabbed my note pad and a Sharpie and hurried toward him.
He looked at me and grinned and immediately offered his hand for me to shake.
I asked for his autograph, told him I was (still am) a big fan and then we stood there
talking about blues and jazz and the city of Chicago for maybe ten minutes.
I shook his hand again wished him luck for the show that night.
He played for three hours that night WITHOUT any breaks.
Two weeks later he was dead from cancer.
Just last April the blues band I was playing drums with opened a festival that
featured the great Pinetop Perkins as a guest artist. I had met Pinetop a few years
earlier at another festival but on this evening, as we were about to begin the final song of our set,
the emcee came out on stage and announced to the huge crowd that Pinetop was there
and all at once, out he walked onto the stage!
The emcee asked him if he wanted to play one with us and to my great
astonishment he said yes. We played 'Big Fat Mammas' and for seven minutes
I was backing up one of the last great Mississippi bluesmen alive.
I was ready to die after that.
I met Koko Taylor, the blues singer and got her autograph in the mid 80's.
I spoke with Chicago blues harmonica player Carey Bell
at a festival in 2003 and got his autograph.
Bat Guano in Michigan had this brush...
I have a job that connects me with many famous folk.
I can not tell you what I do. I think those who have jobs that lead them to the
famous shouldn't be allowed to brag about their brushes with the great.
Unless it's a brush with Tiny Tim. It was early 1996, maybe 1995.
I talked to him, thought beforehand that he was just "Tiptoe Thru the Tulips,"
long-haired warbler of "Laugh In" fame. No, he was more. The man was the greatest,
most sincere eccentric of our times. He was to play at a comedy club here
in South West Michigan. "But I'm not a comedian -- anybody who comes
expecting comedy will be disappointed," he told me in his usual voice,
that of an old-time entertainer.
I talked to him about the songs he sings.
The guy was a genius, an encyclopedia of old music.
But he was ... not like the rest of us. He showed up to the gig
in a stained red and white striped suit. He did his songs with a local band --
The Sinatra's, one of Kalamazoo's greats -- acting as his backing band.
He did no rehearsal with the band beforehand, so they just improvised in a sloppy manner.
They are a rock and roll band, Tiny Tim was a Tin Pan Ally troubadour.
They did well together, considering.
The comedy club crowd did laugh, but it was good-natured.
They loved Tiny, and he loved them.
I was with this chick, she was into retro things. We got in line to meet
Tiny after the show. He took her hand and said something like
"Pleased to meet you, my dear," and she just melted.
You could see that she was charmed. If he wanted her,
he could have had his way with her that night.
Understand, Tiny Tim was a big-nosed, long-haired homely guy
with hounddog eyes. He usually wore adult diapers, I learned later,
not because he had to, but because it was a "comfort thing."
But he always was with young attractive women, from the beginning of
his career to the end. He knew charm. He was a master of charm.
I don't know charm at all. I got nowhere with this girl.
When I found out that Tiny died of a heart attack in late 1996,
on stage right after singing "Tiptoe thru the Tulips," I just about cried.
I shook hands with Vice President Dan Quayle.
The year was 1992. President George H. W. Bush had plummeted
from the guy who kicked Saddam's ass to Mr. Out of Touch
That punk Clinton was going to kick his ass.
George did what he could -- he sent Danny to Kalamazoo, Mich.
It was October, just a couple weeks before the election.
The night before, some friends talked about gathering eggs and rotten tomatoes.
We decided that we would just end up kissing the pavement
with the help of the Secret Service.
I was just going to ignore the visit. But curiosity led me downtown.
There was a crowd in front of the little storefront Republican HQ of Kalamazoo.
The Bush bus arrived, blaring -- you guessed it --
Lee Greenwood's "I'm Proud To Be An American."
Dan came out, gave a little speech on a platform.
As he started to talk, I started to yell. "GET OUT OF OUR TOWN!"
and "WHAT ABOUT CHINA!" (What about China? I'm not sure.)
and various other insightful rebuttals.
A friend -- the one who suggested tomatoes the night before,
who was known as the Freak, and was also a photographer for the local
college newspaper -- showed up with his camera. He yelled a bit, too.
Then Dan came down to the crowd to shake hands.
The Freak got excited. "Dude! Dude! He's coming this way! Shake his hand!"
I shoved between some old ladies, stuck out my hand, and grabbed
my Vice President's soft member. I was really happy to shake his
hand, even though I had just been yelling at him. I squeezed tight,
but his hand just seemed to softly collapse in on itself, like it suddenly
had no bones, and deftly slid from my iron grip. In the photo (by the Freak, of course),
it looks like we're dancing, but that's just him whipping his hand out of mine.
The Secret Service guys were watching me very intensely.
Here's a better photo of Me and Dan...
As you can see, there was at least one old lady to contend with.
And the Secret Service have got their eyes on me.
Since this is another photo by The Freak, I'll use his brush with fame...
The Freak left Kalamazoo, Michigan for Aspen, Colorado,
to live a simple life working at an upscale sushi restaurant.
He tended to call me about once every three years,
usually when I'm doing my weirdo show on WIDR-FM
http://www.swagradio.org - he would just call and babble.
Last year he called to rant and swear about the second Bush/Kerry debate,
which was on at the time. Then he tells me that there was a big party held earlier that year
at his restaurant for Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson, of course, lived nearby in Woody Creek.
The Freak, being fearless, wanted to mess with Thompson in some way.
Not in a bad way, but in a way that would, I don't know, unite young and old freak
together in freakdom? It's always hard to know with The Freak.
(He was, after all, the Freak who made me shake hands with Dan Quayle,
the VP we all feared would end up our Stupidest President if anything happened to Bush.
And here The Freak was calling me when our Stupidest President, Bush,
was failing at a debate, but about to win an election --
The Freak had a habit of tying strange coincidences together like that.)
So The Freak takes a beer that Thompson was drinking away from him,
saying something like, "I'm sorry Mr. Thompson, we can't let you have that beer."
Thompson looked at him like he was going to kill him --
or, to put it in gonzo terms, rip his fucking freak ponytail out by the
roots and strangle him in a righteous frenzy.
Then The Freak pulled a beer -- better quality brand --
from behind his back and said, "Take this one, it's much better!"
Thompson looked like he had just averted having a stroke.
He drank from the beer, said, "Hey, kid -- you're alright!"
A week after Thompson died was the last time I heard from The Freak,
who called to rant about the vultures who were stealing stacks
of HST memorial newspapers from Aspen to sell on Ebay.
"Goddamn fucking vultures!"
EDITOR'S NOTE
Normally, BRUSH with GREATNESS does NOT accept
second-hand brushes - however the above second-hand
brush with Hunter S. Thompson was too good NOT to share.
If you DO send in second-hand brushes,
make sure they're reeeeallly good...thanks!
Matt in (did not say) had this brush...
I saw Pete (the younger, chubbier one) from
Nickelodeon's Adventures of Pete and Pete on a ferry
boat in Quebec when I was on a high school trip, 1995.
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If any celebrity (sports hero, music star, etc)
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brush, they are free to do so...via email only.
DISCLAIMER
The management of BRUSH with GREATNESS assumes
no responsibilty for the actual validity of each "brush"
B with G assumes that all brushes submitted to us
are absolutely true. Brushes are presented strictly
for their entertainment and cultural value,
and are NOT presented as a means to ridicule
or insult famous (or semi-famous) people
If any celebrity (sports hero, music star, etc)
would like to challenge the validity of a particular
brush, they are free to do so...via email only.
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