Beauty

[Barbara in Virginia]

Once I thought about it there have been a good many. But I have also lived a good many years!

Here are the ones I actually met and had a conversation with.

The first I remember were Peter, Paul and Mary when I was in college. I was an officer of a state-wide organization of student governments and attended a concert during one of our state-wide conclaves. Mary in particular wanted to meet the officers of our group to see what we were doing and invited us back to her dressing room after the show. They had just come from a Freedom March and still had red mud on their clothes to show for it. We also met her mother and daughter. Mary asked if they could attend our conference as it was about Human Relations, namely minority relations. Not only did they come, but we put Mary on one of our panels! She was incredibly intelligent and of course very committed.

Next was Senator Ted Kennedy on a plane on the way back home from my Peace Corps tour in Colombia. He invited me to ride on the "bus" from the plane back to Dulles with his entourage, which included Sander Vanocre, other notables, and Secret Service men. Because of the need for security it was only us in the bus. Senator Kennedy was incredibly warm and charismatic and very interested in the work I had done in Colombia.

The next as I remember was Linda Ronstadt, before she was "discovered", in a teeny-tiny club in Georgetown in DC. It seated 20 at most with about half of the seats empty, and we all stayed to talk with her after her performance. She was so very natural and won all of us over. Her live voice of course was incredible.

Lots of politicians, met through my husband's work and/or his class from Yale. From Yale, Senator Heinz and the Secty. of Defense at that time although I can't for the life of me remember who it was! A classmate also became the President of Yale. From his work, including a stint with a delegation to an international conference in Vienna and/or his time at the National War College, I met many but can't say I was very impressed! They included John Lehman, who became the Secty. of Defense. I was informally "assigned" to show his young bride around Vienna. Nancy Kissinger, who chain smoked and seemed like a nervous wreck. Barry Goldwater, whom I liked a lot more as an mellow old gentleman than I ever did as a politician.

I boarded my mare for many years at Ambassador Paul Nitze's horse barn. My husband had also worked with him but my boarding was quite independent from his work. He was quite a gentleman of the old school. And he LOVED my mare, Portia! One day Kay Graham (of the Washington Post) and George Schultz (was Secty of Defense) plus Secret Service arrived at the barn just as I was ready to ride Portia. Mr. N introduced them to me AFTER he introduced them to Portia! George Schultz gave me a very hard time about my Yale hoodie I was wearing until Kay Graham told him to cut it out!

Here I am a life-long Dem meeting all these Republicans, but I have met Dems I am on the same wave-length with: Senator Paul Sarbanes, whom I greatly admire; and Steny Hoyer, whom I knew over a period of many years prior to moving to VA, where I was born. Senator Barbara Mikulski spoke to our AAUW group and was just a little dynamo. Also Kathleen Kennedy, a very gracious lady.

And of course Jim Hightower, a good friend from my college days when we were in student government together. We met up again when we were both working in DC several years later and discovered we lived very close to each other on Capital Hill.

After moving here, I met and now know Robin and Linda Williams, who live down the road in a small town not far from us. And through them Garrison Keillor, who actually came here at their invitation. Had very interesting conversations with him.

And of course I have to mention my cousin, who is a very well-known C&W singer in Nashville. But he is just my cousin to me.

As my father used to say, the famous put their pants on one leg at a time just like all the rest of us!

[laraffinee]

...a fun trip down memory lane....

Many years ago, I worked at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, and I was usually assigned the first 5 rows to usher and also was a "flower girl" who gave flowers to the performers at the end of the performances - Oh what a blast that was! I got to meet so many performers. One of my favorites was Yul Brenner in the King and I - beautiful show.

I also got to attend and usher the Academy Awards/Oscars and had the first 5 rows - all of the nominees were in those rows. I stayed and monitored those rows during the whole event and got to see a lot of "behind the scenes" behaviors of these celebs - it was really something.

Just that night, there was Cher, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Martin Scorsese (who told me I looked like a young Ingrid Bergman), Peter Falk (real gentleman), Tatum O'Neil, Robert Redford.....on and on....a great night.

I saw one of the last performances of Marlene Dietrich during my work there too. Amazing Charisma!

In my days in Cambridge, MA... at a late night gathering at a pub in Harvard Square, we saw a lonely looking Robert De Niro who seemed to be fascinated by our very happy party.

A lot of nice memories of those years.

[Scottish at Heart]

Three years ago in Chicago at O'Hare we were waiting for our flight. My husband said, I wonder if we will see anyone famous? Not two minutes later Danny DeVito and Rhea Pearlman walked in and sat directly behind us!! Everyone in the area respected their privacy and left them alone.

Many years ago I was working at a pharmacy. I went up to the counter to help a young lady and her friend that was filling a prescription. She gave me the prescription and her insurance card. I took her information, smiled and asked her friend if she had been at our pharmacy before since she looked familiar. She smiled and said no. And the other lady just giggled. I started to enter the information into the computer and looked at the insurance card and it said, "Screen Actors Guild". Oh brother....it was Josie Bissett in the flesh!! I never watched Melrose Place so it didn't hit me until that point! Geesh!