For the past few days M has been reading a book by actress Judy Greer entitled, "I Don't Know What You Know Me From, Confessions of a Co-Star." Also for the past few days she has been interrupting whatever important thing I was doing (I'm retired so how important can it be) and saying listen to this and then would proceed to read a segment from the book. One thing I have learned from these passages is Greer is hilariously funny. In case you are wondering just who in the world Judy Greer is, she was the mom who directed the play in the recent movie, "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." She also seduced Leonard in an episode of the Big Bang Theory.
It is one of those segments that gave birth to today's blog entry. At one point she said look at this, and then proceeded to show me a page from the book that at the top read, "Celebrities I've peed next to." M looked at me in all seriousness and said, you could do a blog on that. I reminded her there was only one celebrity I had actually peed next to, so it would be a very short entry (more on that later). So she said, well then write about all the famous people you've talked to or met or whatever. I thought about it for a second or two and said, "ok, I think I can do that." So here we are.
I use the term "celebrity" quite loosely, in fact some of these people you will think, "never heard of them." That's ok, if you haven't heard of them, it just means you need to get out more.
This is not going to be an exhaustive list, just a handful of people I've met and had actual conversations with. The list is not by order of importance, but in alphabetical order.
Martha Ackmann - Ok, I can see a few of you with the deer in the headlights look. This is not a name you recognize. Truthfully, unless you were a journalism student at Ritenour High School in St. Louis in the mid-to-late '70's, or a seriously devoted fan of the theater or a fan of Emily Dickinson, chances are you wouldn't know her. She was my high school journalism teacher.
Back then we called her Miss Ackmann, when I talk to her today it's "Martha" or "Marti." I learned a lot about writing newspaper style from her, and she is also the one who introduced me to radio. But that is another story for another time. Not long after I graduated from Ritenour, she left for the east coast to further her education, eventually earning her PhD and teaching at Mount Holyoke in Massachusetts. She also started writing books. One of which, "These Fevered Days: Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson," she was kind enough to autograph for M. Prior to that, she wrote a biography on Toni Stone, the first woman to play baseball in the Negro Leagues. The year was 1953. The book was eventually made into a play and debuted off-Broadway in 2019. It has also been staged by several theater companies across the country.
The last time I saw Martha was in the fall of 2023 back at Ritenour High School. She was being inducted into the school's Hall of Fame and asked several former students to attend. I was honored to be asked to attend, and M and I enjoyed the evening festivities. She and M had a lot of fun discussing literature. It was a great night, and she is the only one on this list to give me a hug and kiss on the cheek.
Mike Beebe - Mike Beebe is a former governor of Arkansas, before which he was the state Attorney General and a state senator. I first met him in 1979 when he was a Searcy, Arkansas lawyer.
After I was asked not to return to Harding University (who knew they actually wanted you to go to class and take tests), I worked at KWCK-AM/KSER-FM in Searcy and actually loved my work and was pretty good at it. During the two years I was there, Mr. Beebe and I crossed paths many times.
Fast forward 25 years or so. I am now living in Pocahontas, Arkansas and working at the local newspaper, the Pocahontas Star Herald. Beebe has been state attorney general for eight years and is running for governor of Arkansas. It was the summer of 2006 and I was just ending my one-year term as president of the Pocahontas Rotary Club. This particular Wednesday afternoon at Bonanza Steakhouse, Beebe was our guest speaker. Being the reigning president of the club, I sat at the front of the room with him and the club treasurer, Mike Dunn. As we ate our ribeye and baked potato, we started talking. I mentioned working in Searcy 25 years earlier. Not surprising, he didn't remember my brief time there. But he was friendly, and we knew a lot of the same people.
After his program, which was really a campaign speech, I thanked him for coming and prepared to say good-bye. Out of the blue he asked what I was doing that afternoon, and honestly, I had nothing pressing, so he invites me to ride on his campaign bus with him for the afternoon and we would visit some more. I called Anita Murphy, my boss back at the paper, and she basically said, "have fun." The future governor assured me after the various stops they would come back through Pocahontas and drop me off at my car. I have to admit, it was the best afternoon I had had with a Democrat in a long time.
Barbara Bush - Yes, the Barbara Bush. It is the spring of 1980, and as mentioned earlier, I am working at KWCK/KSER in Searcy. It is a presidential election year and the primaries and caucuses are in full swing. I did news and sports at the station and one day my boss, Al Pickett, received a call from some Ladies Club in Searcy. They would be holding a meeting on Thursday afternoon at one of the hotels in Searcy, I think it was the Kings Inn, and Barbara Bush would be speaking. Al, showing his Kansas humor, gave me the info and said, "you're the only Republican here, you can cover it." I didn't mind at all because also included was lunch. I'm here to tell you, as a 21-year-old journalist you never turned down a free meal.
As you probably remember from 1980, Daddy Bush was running for President. He didn't get the nomination and eventually became Ronald Reagan's running mate. Thde lunch was fair and the program good. I found Mrs Bush to be a good speaker and was impressed with her. Following her pitch for her husband, there were some pictures taken and small chit-chat and the ladies began to leave. Mrs. Bush and her handler were still there and incredibly Mrs. Bush came over to where I was sitting and sat down next to me. She commented on my tape recorder and asked what organization I was with. I told her I was from the local radio station. Seeing my youthful looks and sensing perhaps I needed a scoop, she actually put her hand on my arm and asked if I would like to do an interview or did I need any other background information. Goodness, she knew my job better than I did. She treated me like I was Tom Brokaw and we talked for another 10 minutes. She was gracious, charming, funny and real.
At that moment I became a George Bush fan because I thought if he is smart enough to marry a woman like this, he is smart enough to be president.
Jeff Foxworthy - I am guessing it is 1996, maybe '97, and I am working for the Naples (Fla.) Airport Authority. I was the nighttime supervisor for general aviation. On weekends in the winter, we stayed pretty busy. It wasn't unusual to see celebrities flying in as Naples was a town on the Gulf of Mexico, and a lot of well-to-do folks would fly in their private jets in and out on a regular basis.
This particular Saturday night around six or do, Jeff Foxworthy had flown in from Atlanta. He was speaking at some banquet in town and he was the entertainment. This was not a show for the masses. When he arrived and walked into the general aviation terminal where I was walking, there were two individuals there to meet him, and they whisked him away to the speaking engagement. About ten minutes later, after shutting down the aircraft, the pilots that flew him in came in and gave me their fuel order. They also asked if there was any place good to eat that was close. I recommended Michelbob's, a popular BBQ place that had great ribs and melt in your mouth onion rings. I am not exaggerating when I say it was not unusual on a weekend night to have ten planes fly in from all over the state of Florida just to eat there. That sounded good to them, so one of the guys gave them a ride over to the establishment.
About an hour later, who should walk in the from door of the terminal but Jeff Foxworthy. He had finished his performance and was now ready to head back to Atlanta. I informed him his pilots were not here, as they had gone to the barbecue place across the street and were not back. He wasn't too upset about it, because he knew he was back before he said he would be. I assured him they would be back soon and invited him to have a seat and wait. Instead he stood at the counter and the next words out of his mouth were "Well Dalton, y'all having a busy night?" Wait a minute, did Jeff Foxworthy just initiate a conversation with me? Suddenly my paperwork did not seem so important.
We wound up talking for another 10 minutes. I mentioned my sons, Barclay and Clayton lived in Cartersville, an Atlanta suburb about 30 miles north of downtown on I-75. He knew exactly where Cartersville was and remembered when it was not more than a few thousand people. Our conversation ended when the pilots returned. They both looked surprised to see him and one of the pilots said with a quivering voice, "Mr. Foxworthy, we weren't expecting you back so soon." Jeff looked at them sternly and said, "the only think I have to say is you better have brought me back some ribs. I haven't eaten yet." Now the pilots really looked worried and stammered to say something. Foxworthy couldn't keep a straight face anymore and burst out laughing. "I'm just messing with ya," he said, "let's go home." It was pretty cool to have a front seat to a comedic genius. As he headed out the door, he actually called me by name again and asked if I had any messages for my kids.
Mike Huckabee - Back to working at the paper. This was probably about 2004. Huckabee is the governor of Arkansas. He would later be succeeded by Mike Beebe who I talked about earlier.
As best as I remember it, there has been a ruling by the State Supreme Court regarding schools in the state, that all students needed to have equal opportunities. That meant curriculum and facilities. It also meant big dollars. Many smaller school districts felt they would be forced to close or merge with another district because they would not be able to afford the changes or offer the courses required by the specified date.
We had a couple of small districts, Biggers-Reyno and Oak Ridge Central, in Randolph County (where Pocahontas was) and they were very nervous. I contacted the governor's office and requested an interview with the governor about the education reforms. We agreed upon a date about two weeks later, and on the agreed upon date I drove to the Little Rock and the state capitol. I knew my way around the capitol building pretty well and went to straight to his office. The receptionist let someone know I was there, and just a minute or two later a young man led me into the inner sanctum. After passing through three rooms, I arrived in Gov. Huckabee's office. He stood when I walked in and offered me a seat, there was one other individual in there from the Arkansas Dept. of Education. We chatted for about 45 minutes. I know it was more of an interview, but the end he did ask my background and the like. He answered all of my questions and was very friendly and personable.
After leaving office Huckabee would run unsuccessfully for president in 2008 and 2016. He also had his own show on Fox News, Huckabee, from 2008 to 2015. Following his election in November, President-Elect Trump has said he plans to appoint Huckabee to the Ambassadorship of Israel.
Don King - Let's see a show hands of how many of you know who Don King is. In the '70's and '80's King was the pre-eminent boxing promoter in the United States. He was loud, and he was a showman. His hair, oh my his hair, was an afro going in every direction. It had to be about two feet in diameter. It was massive.
In the mid '80's I was young (under 30), carefree, had few responsibilities and a nice disposable income. I also worked for Trans World Airlines (TWA), which meant I could fly free pretty much anywhere TWA flew world-wide. It was a great time. It was not unusual for several of us to be sitting around the employee lounge at the end of the day and one person to say, "hey, I see the Cardinals have a day game in New York tomorrow, who wants to go?" There would usually be four or five us quickly checking our calendars. One of my co-workers, Pat Sizemore was in charge of procuring tickets. Pat's brother was Ted Sizemore, National League Rookie of the Year in 1970 or 71. He was also good friends with Met first baseman Keith Hernandez, who used to play for the Cardinals.
So five us showed up at Lambert Field the next morning to catch the 7 a.m. flight to LaGuardia. From there we would squeeze into a couple of cabs for the quick trip over to Shea Stadium. After the game, it was back to La Guardia and catch the last flight home. Sounds simple doesn't it.
Pat picked up our tickets at Will Call and distributed them to us. We were in like the 10th row, right behind home plate. We watched batting practice, laughed, talked, ate real Nathan's hot dogs, and had our favorite beverage. We all had our feet on the back of the seats in front of us as they were empty. That is until about five minutes before game time when the row filled up. As luck would have it, sitting directly in front of me was Don King and his mammoth hair. It was like there had been an eclipse of the ballpark, I couldn't see a thing. My so-called friends laughed at me. Hysterically. I rebuked them as best I could, but it didn't change the situation. I had Don King sitting in front of me.
Evidently, he had a fight to broker or a client to meet as in the fourth inning he got up and left, leaving me an unobstructed view of Shea Stadium. Did I talk to him? No, not really, but I was on the periphery of greatness
Nick Saban - Back in 2014 when M and I moved to the Shoals from Arkansas, I had procured a job with SeaPort Airways. A small airline that flew three times a day to Nashville from Muscle Shoals using nine-seat Cessna 208's. It was fun, I had been out of the airline business for 15 years and was glad to be back in it.
One afternoon between flights, one of the University of Alabama jets landed. I couldn't see who got out but it was rumored to be Nick Saban. Oh well, missed opportunity. Apparently, I wasn't thinking because about an hour later a big, black Suburban pulled up to one of the doors and out popped Coach Saban. He came in the door right in front of me and stood there for a few. Somehow I found the courage to approach him. I introduced myself and we briefly chatted. When it came time to leave, he graciously agreed to have his picture taken with me. I guess he knew that I was friends with Barbara Bush. I still have the picture and post it periodically
Jerry Seinfeld - By this time you are probably asking yourself, "who did you pee next too?" Your patience has won out. It was Jerry Seinfeld.
My senior year in high school and for a bit after a dated I girl named Linda Richardson. She had a younger sister named Paula. No, I didn't date her, but through her work, she cut hair and one of these fancy places, she would frequently get tickets to the Funny Bone Club in the Westport area of St. Louis County. I saw Howie Mandell and Stephen Wright, Imo Phillips and some others, one of whom was a young comedian from New York named Jerry Seinfeld. He was clean, he was funny and had the crowd inn his hand.
There were usually three comedians performing per night, and on this particular night, about 10 minutes before Seinfeld was to come on stage, I headed to the men's room. As I went in there were three urinals along the wall. I noticed the middle urinal was occupied by the man who went in before me, so I took the one to his left. While standing there doing my business, I noticed it was Seinfeld standing next to me. Jerry Seinfeld was peeing next to me! I broke the awkwardness by saying something incredibly stupid like do well tonight or break a leg. Something really lame. He finished his business, got himself straightened up and flushed. He said, "Thanks, see you inside," and that was it. Remember this was several years before his television show started. But still, it was pretty cool.
Those are my vignettes, and I'm sticking to them. Thanks for reading. See you next time
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