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Our Daily Thread 2-28-13

Good Morning!

21 Days until Spring! 🙂

Quote of the Day, from a famous person I’ve actually met on two occasions.

“Everything  comes to those who wait… except a cat.”

Mario  Andretti

QoD

Have you ever met a “famous person”?

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For todays music, I found a whole VW mini-bus full of Hippies. 🙂

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70 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 2-28-13”

  1. 😦 I left a comment, and it popped up “This Webpage is not available”.
    So, You missed one of the most delightful and enlightening post you’ll ever see.
    And I’m off to breakfast.
    😆

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  3. I met Grandpa Jones in Little Rock, AR. There were some of the other Hee Haw people with him and I got my picture taken with them. I don’t know where the photo is. I wouldn’t call it “met” be I did exchange smiles and nods with Jimmy Carter.

    As you know I went into yesterday apprehensive and down. I was listening to Pandora Radio on the way to work and this song came on:

    I don’t know why but it made me smile and feel a little better. As I tell you I am either your resident Southern Belle or White Trash depending on the day and time.

    So my QoD Is there a song that makes you feel better or takes you back to a certain time? There is one song that no matter how cold or hot it is I have to put the windows down, drive too fast, and listen to it at top volume.

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  4. At breakfast, I had a chance to think about the QoD.
    J. Strom Thurmond presented me with a Boy Scout badge.
    BG associate evangelist Grady Wilson once spoke to a bunch of college kids at Elvera’s apartment.
    Vice Adm. (3-star), Medal of Honor recipient, and Vice Presidential candidate James Stockdale used to be president and one of my professors at the Naval War College.
    Future Gamecock pitcher and NY Yankee star Caden Muller is my great-grandson.
    Future President Addison Muller is my great granddaughter.
    And Collins Muller, Miss America of 2033, is also my great granddaughter.
    And last, but not least, I married Elvera Collins.

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  5. Kim’s question. Yes, but it’s not the same one every time.
    When I was stationed at Dhahran in 1952, April Stephens’ “Gimme A Little Kiss” used to turn me on something awful.
    And Johnny and Anita Carter singing “Over the Next Hill” has brought tears. But not always.
    Others I can’t think of now.

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  6. QOD: When my children were small, I visited my Uncle and Grandma in Oneonta, NY. I stayed at the local Holiday Inn. So, my kids and I were at the hotel pool and these guys, all with the same swim trunks on came and were playing in the pool. they befirended my children and were playing with them in the water and I thought, “these guys must be some kind of sports team.” They played with my kids for about an hour and my kids had a blast. As I was leaving, after checking out, I saw the sign that said, “Welcome New York Yankees.” The Oneonta Yankees are a NY Yankee farm team, and every year, the Yankees play their farm teams. Being the mother of small children, although I’m a Yankee fan, I had other things going on in my life besides following the Yankees very closely. I did not recognize a single one of them when they were playing with my kids in the pool.

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  8. Good morning. I met Lyle Lovett at a church we were visiting a couple of years ago. I love his music and was a little star-struck. He was very nice and down to earth.

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  9. Presidential candidate Alan Keys, Boxer George Foreman, Wrestler Jake the Snake Roberts, James Doohhan from Star Trek, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who’s been on the news a lot lately, American Idol winner Reuben Studdard, Mother Angelica, Rick of the Rick and Bubba radio show, Fred Luter, current President of the Southern Baptist Convention and some famous movie critic who’s name I can not remember now. Susan Ashton, Phil Keaggy and David Meese, Contemporary Christian singers who use to be famous, Y’all can cull through that and decide which of these you would consider actually famous.
    Oh and Dizzy Dean is my second cousin twice removed though I never met him.

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  12. Good Morning. It’s going to be in the 40’s today!! I’m sort of getting tired of all this snow and I bought a bunch of daffodils at the store yesterday…I’m needing some Spring!
    I met Johnny Bench…he said I was cute…that was about 40 years ago… 🙂
    Kim’s Qod….Kiss me Once Kiss Me Twice Kiss Me Once Again..It’s been a long long time…sung by Bing Crosby….my Daddy used to sing that to his three girls…it makes me cry..and smile…and remember…and feel incredibly blessed..I miss him.

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  13. I’ve shaken hands with Hank Aaron, high-fived Magic Johnson, shared the Gospel with Alvin Robertson, and bought my first car from Norm Charlton. Those were all professional athletes, but by far the most important person I’ve ever met is one Jesus Christ!

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  14. I forgot Jim Cavievel, Thomas Wilson (bad guy from Back to the Future movies) he smiled at me and the Movie Critic who’s name I couldn’t remember was Micheal Medved.

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  15. Good morning. The famous people I met are too obscure for you to know. Damon Knight took me to lunch at the University of Oregon faculty club. My uncle George Perle took me to see the a performance of Stravinsky’s Rites of Spring</i. at the New York City Ballet and told me Stravinsky had told him about the riot at the first performance in Paris. My cousin Joanna Nichols paid for family reunions and told us how she had co-founded Graco (company that makes strollers, car seats, cribs, etc., with her Taiwanese husband. She also told me how she had become a Christian in Taipei. A library at the "American School" in Taipei is named after her, as she is (in a modest way) considered a national heroine in Taiwan. When I was about four years old (or so my mother told me; of course, I don't remember) I was "presented to" Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect. I talked once with Eugene McCarthy, the once presidential candidate.

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  17. Good Morning, Y’all!

    QOD: Candace Bailey of several TV shows. Known her since she was born

    Michael Chiklis: Worked with him in New York when we were both working stiffs.

    Chester Thompson, Felix Cavaliere, Chuck Merriweather(MLB Ump), Lorrie Morgan…taught their kids.

    Kim’s QOD: For some reason “Sugar Magnolia”, Grateful Dead and “Sausalito Summer Nights” by Diesel

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  18. As you all know, I am a troll, and I am an affliction on your (mostly gentle and tolerant) message board. I have always said, the best solution to trolls is to ignore them. You are doing a surprisingly good job. Also, I should apologize to Ree because I grew bored with G. K. Chesterton and never finished reading my “assignment.” I might finish reading it and I might get myself saved, and Christians never give up hope. I am being hoisted on my own petard, as Shakespeare said, so I will ask your advice in the next comment.

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  19. I am the founder of an atheist organization on our island, and I am the leader, though as I know I am going to die, I am gradually withdrawing from power, but as I pay the main bill, I still have ultimate power. We are being afflicted by a troll of our own. He is an atheist (so that is not the problem), but he is a conspiracy theorist, who thinks that 9/11 was not really a Muslim plot and the twin towers were brought down by planted bombs and not airplanes.

    Everyone in our group thinks his frequent posts are making us look bad and driving potential converts to atheism away. Should we ban him and delete his frequent posts? Or should we allow his free speech on our “free thinkers” web site. I may meet him on the mainland in a day or two. He makes me nervous.

    Should I tell him to stop? Should I ask him to stop? Should I ask him to limit his posts? As you have a lot of experience in dealing with a troll (me), what do you think I should do?

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  21. Well Random,

    Explain to him that his ideas are out of the mainstream and that some may look upon the group in a poor light because of it. If you have rules and he’s breaking them, point it out. Explain that you don’t want to moderate or ban him, but for the good of the group you will if necessary. He should understand that.

    If he’s reasonable, he’ll understand and change his ways.

    But if he’s just a nut, you’ll probably have to ban him. Don’t be afraid to.

    Also I must point out that if you believed in God, you could pray about it and ask for direction. But you seem to have limited yourself in this regard. That’s a shame.

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  24. NancyJill,

    Supposed to be in the fifties here today. It is snowing.

    Famous people: Aunt Betty. She let me fly a plane over the Pacific with her. And a helicopter. I was around six years old at that time.

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  26. AJ’s QoD: I met Cal Thomas, who was the keynote speaker at a pro-life convention I attended many years ago. Shook his hand, talked to him about the importance of having Christians in journalism. I was wearing a name tag and he said hello, calling me by my name before I was even expecting he would say anything! (I was browsing at a table of books in the conference hall after his address and was not really paying attention to the fact that he had finished his conversation with the person he had been talking to before me.) Very friendly man!

    Kim’s QoD: I recently heard Elton John’s “Your Song” on the radio, and it took me back to a time I had stayed overnight at my grandparents’ house in town. The song came out in 1970, I believe, and I remember waking up at my grandparents’ house, going out to the dining room in the early morning, and hearing that song play on my grandparents’ radio. I would have been about 7 or 8 at the time, and every time I hear the song, I’m transported back to that old brick house by the railroad tracks.

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  28. Good morning. I’ve been lurking around for a long time. The famous person that I have met is Dayuma, who taught snippets of language to Jim Elliott and friends, before their deaths.

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  29. Weird how songs “transport” us, as 6Arrows said, to a particular place and time, even though we probably heard it many other times through the years. But songs have a way of sticking and weaving themselves into a particular experience for some reason.

    I’ve covered a lot of so-called famous types. Oh, and I met Reagan when I was a kid, he was running for governor of California and my mom was volunteering on his campaign. 🙂 My girlfriend and I snapped a pic of him waving at us as he left in his car after a campaign stop, wish I could find it. It’s bound to be in a box somewhere around here …

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  30. When he was president, I covered a speech he gave at the port, but he was way, way, way, far away (nearly all of our reporters were there that day, along with the rest of the media from everywhere).

    Around that same time, a few years later, Jeb Bush came through our little waterfront newsroom, shaking hands. (He was part of the entourage on a campaign stop his dad was making when he was running for president.)

    We female reporters all thought he was very cute.

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  31. From yesterday: 6 Arrows – sorry to take so long on this. I hope you find it worth the wait.
    The historical context of Ezekiel 37:15-17 is this:
    Ezekiel was prophesying to Judah while he was in captivity in Babylon. (He and Daniel were contemporaries. Daniel was also prophesying in Babylon at the same time.)
    Israel, the Northern Kingdom (10 Tribes) had already gone into captivity under Assyria and were in the Diaspora. They were dispersed throughout the world. In Ezekiel’s day, Assyria no longer existed as a world power and was displaced and conquered by Babylon. The Northern kingdom of Israel was no longer recognized as a people by the time Babylon defeated Assyria.
    Ezekiel was part of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, which consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Ezekiel was taken into captivity in the second wave of captives taken into exile to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. (By the way, the word “Jew” was coined at this time and referred to the people of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Judah has remained intact as a people –a remnant – of the entire kingdom of Israel to this day.)
    “Take one stick and write upon it, ‘for Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions.’”
    This refers to the Southern Kingdom, (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin – his companions) now in exile with Ezekiel in Babylon.
    “Then take another stick, and write upon it, ‘fro Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’”
    Joseph came to represent the Northern Kingdom as the “name”. Israel’s other sons has disqualified themselves for one reason or another by some sins they had committed in the eyes of their father and in the eyes of God. (That is the topic of another study, but relevant verses can be found in Genesis 49 – The blessings Jacob bestowed upon his sons just before he died.) Joseph was Rachel’s eldest son and Jacob’s favorite. Ephraim was Joseph’s eldest son, born in Egypt. He received his father’s birthright. Whenever you see a reference to either Joseph or Ephraim in prophetic Scripture, it is a reference to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
    Joseph absolutely DOES NOT refer in any way, shape or form to Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion (cult).
    So we have 2 sticks: one for the remnant of Israel, Judah, in exile at the time of Ezekiel’s prophecy; and one for the Northern Kingdom of Israel, dispersed throughout the world’s population and unrecognizable as a people at the time of Ezekiel’s prophecy.

    “And you shall join them one to another into one stick. And they shall become one in your hand.”
    This is the prophecy of a reunited people of the entire house of Israel – all 12 tribes.
    And because we want to get the full context of the passage, and Scripture is about to interpret itself, Ezekiel goes on to say,
    “When the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?” say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them to their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms…”
    This must have been a great encouragement to a people in captivity hearing these words. We here in our generation are witnessing the words of this prophecy being fulfilled. Israel is once again a land where God is gathering His people from all over the world. Parts of this prophecy have yet to be fulfilled, but it is happening before our eyes!
    “…They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. ..”
    God is not done with His people Israel. The church has NOT replaced Israel. Some of these things are yet to happen.
    “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe the. They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons, and their son’s sons forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place also will be with them and I will be their God and they will be My people. And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary ins in their midst forever.”’”
    God still has many good plans for Israel, His covenant people.
    There is no reference to holy writ in any of these verses. Your friend has twisted them badly.
    I suggest that if you continue with your witnessing relationship with her, that you get a book on how to witness to Mormons, especially ones written from the perspective of ex-Mormons . I have no suggestions, but I’m sure there are quite a few on the market.
    I hope you find this helpful.

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  32. Good advice, Klasko, on seeking books from an ex-Mormon perspective. I did that when I found myself in a position to witness to a Christian Scientist, I read 2-3 books on the faith written by those who had left it. But it was a great help in understanding where they were coming from and what the religion actually taught.

    Some of these churches use the same biblical language Christians do but it means something entirely different at times. So it helps to get a grasp of what it is they are being taught, how a passage has been reinterpreted to mean something completely out of the natural context.

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  33. Kim’s QOD: All this Johnny Cash has been making me think of my Dad.

    We had an album by the Limelighters (remember Glenn Yarbrough?) There was a son called The Lolli[pop Tree. My grandfather used to teas us when we were little and change the words to “Lemonade Tree”. My sister bouth me the CD a few years ago, and i like to play it every once in awhile. It makes me think of my Poppy and smile.

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  36. Also Geoff Bodine. I watched the daytona 500 the year he won it (85, I think), in his living room on his big screen TV. His kids threw a small birthday party for my daughter. His sister was good friends with my Mom. They were neighbors in an apartment and my mom used to do her taxes. Mom knows all the Bodine brothers.

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  37. Oleg Rundik – Who is he, you ask? He was my primary Russian instrustor when I was at the defense Language Institute. He also happens to be the person who taught robin Williams Russian for Moscow On the Hudson. He played one of the KGB agents in that movie. He was also one of the Russian astronauts in 2010 – The Year We Make Contact. Hearing his voice on the countdown freaked me out. His voice was on most of the numbers dictation tapes I had to listen to and write down. One of my buddies from DLI had me rent the movie and stand in the other room and played the countdown for me. Talk about taking me back. I was looking for a piece of paper and a pencil… 😉

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  38. I would give you points for trying to read Chesterton, Stephen, but since you chose to try one that I didn’t recommend and wouldn’t expect you to like instead of one of the two I did ask you to read, and you got bored and stopped reading before ever getting to either of those two, I’ll have to flunk you.

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  39. My famous person claim to fame is that I used to sometimes hang out with a kind of maniac actor who was my roommate’s boyfriend (kind of her boyfriend, anyway–it’s a strange story) when I lived in L.A. Probably no one here ever heard of him, but you’ve probably seen him in something. He pops up in lots of random things, and whenever I’m watching TV and I see him, I mention to whomever I’m with that I used to hang out with him. They’re generally mildly impressed. Most recently, I was able to impress my kids when he popped up in a couple of episodes of The Mentalist as Detective Wayne Rigsby’s criminal father. He pretty much always plays variations on the same character into which he was first typecast back when I knew still knew him and he was on an a couple of episodes of Hill Street Blues. He was in the movie Raising Arizona with Nicholas Cage, too.

    I also once saw, but never met, Michael Jackson, when I was walking through Westwood and he was riding through on some kind of a rickshaw or something with a couple of pre-pubescent boys. The funny thing about that is that I actually kind of forgot the incident until my brother-in-law reminded me of it. He brought it up when Michael Jackson was accused of molesting a young boy.

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  41. QoD: Omar Bradley (the WWII 5 Star general) not the former mayor of Compton, borrowed his phone. Elisabeth Eliot, had a long chat at a book table. Burt Bacharach (sp?) and Angie Dickison, was caught in the middle of a fight between them. USC coach John Robinson, helped him find his lost grandchild. Junior Seau, everyone here has met him. Same with Shawn White and Tony Hawk. Clint Eastwood, had an elevator chat with him. John Paul II, mag interview. Directors James Mangold and Rob Marshall. Ken Watanabe, helped him find cream for his coffee. Broadway composer Hugh Martin, edited his book. Henry Winkler and Bruce Willis, sat next to at USC football games. These are the ones I had a conversation with. I have seen in person countless others; living in So Cal it happens a lot.

    Chas, wish I had met James Stockdale, every Vietnam POW has a great love for that man.

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  42. Thank you for the suggestions. I made an appointment to meet with the troublesome person tomorrow. I will ask him to remove his bonnet so I can examine the bee in it.

    Ree, you are quite right to flunk me. Not only that, but YOU KNOW WHO will flunk me. That will sting. On the wall across from where I am sitting as I type, I have a large reproduction of Hieronymous Bosch’s famous triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights. The third panel shows Hell. Think Bosch knew what he was talking about? Well, painting about? Which one of those little writhing figures will be me? Gotta work on taxes. Bosch didn’t show the IRS in his Hell panel. So what did he know? Troll Stephen, over and out.

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  44. Klasko, thank you very much for getting back to me. What you’ve shared is indeed helpful.

    I have a couple books checked out of our church library right now on Mormonism. They’re not written by ex-Mormons, but are helpful in different ways.

    One book is a rather short overview in a series entitled “How to Respond”, published by Concordia Publishing House. This book only has 62 pages, and is just a rather quick guide to understanding the history and basic tenets of the Latter-day Saints, and giving witnessing tips. I read it fairly quickly.

    The other book is quite extensive, What Do Mormons Really Believe?, by John Ankerberg & John Weldon. At 336 pages, with index and footnotes, it is quite meaty, and I’m working my way more slowly through that one.

    Michelle has a friend who is an ex-Mormon, whose website has a good deal of information on the LDS.

    Plus, I have a friend at church who married a Mormon man. For many years, only she and their kids came to church, but now in the last two or three years, he has been coming with them, and attending the Grades 7 & 8 parent/child bible studies our church has for kids who are preparing to be confirmed. My friend is a very patient and gentle lady, and has been praying for a long time for her husband. It is beautiful to see him in church regularly, looking a lot more comfortable than when he first started coming regularly. (He used to only go when his kids were singing at church.)

    His parents are very serious Mormons, having established an LDS church in our area, and are big into that. So to see the transformation in him that the Lord is slowly working is very inspiring.

    I thought about asking my friend what insights she has on Mormonism, and whether she has tips on witnessing to LDS members.

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  46. Another tie to a (fairly) famous person: the NFL player Steve Heiden, who played for the San Diego Chargers and the Cleveland Browns as a tight end, is the son of a man my husband used to work with. I’ve met Steve’s parents, and I believe I may have met him, too, when he was a child.

    One more: does this count? I know 1st Arrow, and he is a movie star! 🙂 Okay, I’ll clarify that a little 😉

    First Arrow has a friend who is an independent Christian filmmaker, and my son was in one of his movies, Brothers Arise, which was a semi-finalist in the Short Film category at the 2011 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. He wasn’t exactly a star 😉 as he didn’t have a speaking part, but hey, you know how moms have to pull out the brag book a little bit 😉

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  48. Some of you have met some interesting people.

    I’ve also met Michael and Marco Andretti, Congressman/Senator Pat Toomey, former Congressman/Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense Paul McHale (who looks like Kim’s husband if you ask me), Joe Morris from the Giants, also the guy who does the remote spots for Rachael Ray, I always forget his name.

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  50. More with the “music that takes me back” theme:

    My college piano professor was so much fun. Every time I hear Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and it’s played fairly regularly on public radio, I think back to playing the concerto in college. I did not play it with an orchestra, but my piano professor played the piano reduction of the orchestral score on a second piano in a performance on the main stage in the fine arts center on campus. We were the whole show playing on that one particular Recital Day. Our pianos faced each other, so I could see my instructor’s animated movement over at his piano, and it was one of my most fond college memories!

    This is Martha Argerich playing in the video, and she plays a little better than I do 😉

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  52. Famous people, hmm. Nobody HUGELY famous, but some widely-known names.

    Child actor Holliston Coleman, who starred as the title child in “Bless the Child”, and as the title “Me” in “Miss Lettie and Me” with Mary Tyler Moore as Miss Lettie , also with Burt Reynolds. And her brother, Bobby Coleman, who was the title child in “The Martian Child” with John Cusack, and played Miley Cyrus’s little brother in “The Last Song”. Their parents have been good friends of mine for 30 years. They are wonderful God-loving children.

    Sue Thomas, who I knew when she worked in California for a few years in the ’80s. That was after her FBI lip-reader years, on which the PAX series “Sue Thomas: FBEye” was based ten years ago. She is a kind and compassionate lady with amazing ability as a deaf person to function in a hearing world and a powerful Christian testimony.

    James Kopp, whom I knew a little bit through a mutual friend in the 80’s. He helped out as a volunteer for awhile for the non-profit I worked for. He was also very involved in Operation Rescue. I liked him a lot, and was shocked that he ended up in prison a few years back for shooting an abortionist.

    Mark Slade, who was on the TV series “High Chapparal” in the late 60’s. I met him when I was 12 and we both appeared on a TV program for parents that dealt with different special topics every week. That week it was about children with serious heart conditions and what was possible with relatively new surgeries. I’m not sure what he had to do with the topic, but his presence was a treat for all of us juvenile heart patients.

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  53. Don Ho?

    I don’t know how famous he really is (especially to younger generations), but that’s the only famous person I’ve met that I can think of.

    Oh! I was in England with my husband about 5 years ago, and I attended a showing of Shakespeare’s *Titus Andronicus* at the Old Globe, and Patrick Stewart was there attending the same show with his wife. I took a somewhat distant photo, but I didn’t run up to shake his hand or anything. I thought he had the right to come to the theater and not be bothered.

    I’m not much of one for being too “bowled over” by the thought of “famous” people. I figure they’re pretty much just people, so I’ve always disdained waiting in line to meet an author or getting too excited by the thought of meeting someone famous. And, truly, if you’re one of those women who screamed and fainted at various rock stars, just don’t tell me. I truly looked down (in my younger years) on people who did that!!

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  54. My son, the philosopher/theologian, loves Chesterton. I’ve tried reading him, and I get lost and bored pretty quickly too. 😦 I figure that he just doesn’t speak to me at this time in my life. I plan on trying to read him again, though, in the future.

    I really enjoy C.S. Lewis (although, surprisingly, I am not all that fond of his Narnia series), Peter Kreft, and Norman Geisler.

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  55. My husband rode in an elevator with the author, George R.R. Martin. (*The Game of Thrones.*) He didn’t say anything to him, but he wanted to tell him to stop putting so much effort into the movies and get the next book of the series out!

    Personally, I HATE the book series, and have never watch the t.v. series, so I wouldn’t have been impressed. I think the books are dark and depressing, and don’t have a single person — who doesn’t get killed anyway — worth rooting for or caring about. I don’t care how “well written” they’re supposed to be. I honestly wanted to throw the first one in the garbage when I finished it. But, my oldest and my husband really like the books.

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  56. Forgot a few…Sold records to Margot Kidder, Andrew McCarthy and Ric Ocasek.

    Spoke very briefly to Yoko Ono one day. I guess that counts…

    Also spent several Sunday mornings talking with Stanley Crouch a columnist and reviewer for the Village Voice and other publications. He was a very interesting and educated man that was perfectly ok with a restaraunt worker that disagreed with him and argued back…enjoyed my time talking with him.

    Had the privilege as well of working with M ike Singletary, Bill Curry and Tom Osborne on video recodings for FCA. I was supposed to meet Barry Sanders but he canceled…

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  58. How famous is famous, and what does it take to have “met” one?

    I’ve edited Jerry Falwell, but I never met him. I’ve edited (and met) several people who would probably only be famous in the Christian world, or at least certain subcultures within it. As a rule I try to list only people who haven’t mentioned me in their books, 🙂 but I think these are safe: Michael Horton, Crawford Loritts, Lyle Dorsett, Tim Downs. Several, men and women, who are “more famous” than those, and one who is fairly well known in Christian circles for sex books (but I was single at the time, and it wasn’t a sex book). I’ve edited one NY Times number-one best-seller (the other AJ’s wife wrote it), two Christy award winners, and two Gold Medallion winners (and some finalists).

    I’ve also met Calvin Miller, Jerry Jenkins, Ravi Zacharias, and several other writers I didn’t edit.

    I’ve been at the same smallish event (100-150 or so) with Paul Harvey, twice in fact, but it wasn’t his event and I didn’t officially meet him. I’ve met quite a few minor celebrities in the Christian radio circuit.

    For several years I attended church with someone who had been quite famous in his own day (his wedding was broadcast on the radio, and it drew a couple thousand people to it in the flesh; it was his events Paul Harvey was attending), but by the time I met him, in his eighties, only “old-timers” had heard of him. Since I shared a last name with him (the reason I’m not mentioning him by name), he and his wife “adopted” me, and I often had Thanksgiving or Easter dinner at their home. His son asked me to sit with the family at his funeral; I moved forward and sat a couple rows behind them.

    Several of my siblings are well-known in their own circles. One brother is a renowned expert in his field (a fairly narrow one), and two more travel internationally to speak from time to time. One has had a one-man show in the art museum of one of the country’s top-ten cities, and also had an article on his art published in a magazine I subscribed to years later (I found a copy of the issue in Mom’s house when she died).

    It’s far more interesting to get to know someone, famous or not, than to meet someone famous in passing. And someone who is just “famous for being famous” but has no character and no real skills, no thanks.

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  59. The most fun person was Jim Lovell, the captain of Apollo 13 fame. He was in Hawai’i to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII. This was shortly after the movie came out.

    We were attending the Navy’s celebration on an aircraft carrier parked, literally, in our backyard (all the various armed forces had their own party), and he was one of the honored guests. We went over and introduced ourselves, shook his hand, got autographs on our programs, and I said, “I really enjoyed your book.”

    “Hey, Marilyn!” he shouted to where his long suffering wife was chatting with a friend. “Here’s someone who read my book!”

    She nodded.

    “You need to go talk to her,” he insisted.

    I smiled politely and we moved on. But I laughed. Authors are so desperate for affirmation! 🙂

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  60. James Stockdale got the Medal of Honor. But his wife Sibyl was the real hero. She kept agitating in Washington about the treatment of prisoners.
    They wrote about it jointly in a book called In Love and War.

    I’ve just finished reading Crossroads by Paul Young, author of The Shack>/i>. If you liked The Shack, you’ll like this. Both books require you to buy into weird situations.
    But it’s a good book, a good lesson.

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  61. Klasko, I found four people on my list who are 2 degrees of Kevin Bacon. Jim Caveizel, Thomas F. Wilson, Micheal Medved and Ruben Studdard. Since I actually worked on a production with two of them that gives me a 3.

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  63. I’ve met a few famous people, mostly Christian musicians. I spent a few days at the Last Days Ranch, Keith Green’s ministry home. I had met him a time or two prior through a friend who lived there.

    When I worked at a religious radio station in Tucson, I met Andre Crouch, the 2nd Chapter of Acts, the Archers and the Downings (Southern Gospel group).

    I also met Governor/Senator/US Attorney General John Ashcroft twice, as well as former US Senators Kit Bond and Jim Talent, all from Missouri.

    Once, after visiting my friend at Last Days (after Keith’s death), my wife and I, along with two young men riding with us, dropped in on Leonard Ravenhill, the English evangelist who spent his last days living near the Last Days Ranch. That was the best hour ever. What a godly man.

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  64. I have loved reading much of Leonard Ravenhill’s writings…you are correct…a faithful servant of our Lord. We took our youth group to one of Keith’s last concerts in Columbia SC…we traveled from Myrtle Beach in two church vans to attend…what an amazing evening of a “no compromise” message to not only our youth, but, to us all. We still listen to his music…it never gets old…and some more memorable songs still grip my heart and bring tears, especially…”Oh Lord You’re Beautiful”….

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  65. Oh, yeah. When I lived in Iowa I met some of the GOP presidential candidates in 2000. Alan Keyes two or three times. Also shook hands with Robert Dole at the 1999 Iowa Straw Poll.

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  68. Van Cliburn, of international piano competition fame and from Fort Worth, Texas, died yesterday, I just learned today. Here’s a nice tribute to him in music and pictures, including with a few U.S. presidents.

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  69. I spent a weekend a year for about five-seven years with Jim Kelly in Ellicotville NY along with some other parents. I no longer attend but I met some wonderful people including Kelly and his family and have some good memories.

    When I lived in north west Iowa, it was the Republican primary in 1987-8 which Bush Sr eventually won. I can recall meeting another candidate probably Jack Kemp but he lost interest when he found out I was Canadian. Bush Sr showed up but there was more press, security and advisers than real people.

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