I was never one to seek out or stalk celebrities. I respect their privacy and often don’t even notice when they pass by. In most cases, It usually takes someone to say, “Hey, there’s so and so or isn’t that….”  I’m not one for autographs or photographs, so those famous are relatively safe around me. However, being in the media business most of my life, I’ve had many close encounters despite my shyness and reserved nature. With all this in mind, let’s do a little name dropping!

I would say that one of my first celebrity encounters was with my dad and his friend who took me to lunch with a Philadelphia Phillies baseball catcher by the name of Jim Coker. Oddly enough, a guy I met the other day at a baseball card show asked me to buy one of his cards. He didn’t know the player but liked the looks of it. Honestly, I was reluctant to let it go, but had another in my collection. As I write this, I’m surrounded in my office by autographs and photos of mostly sports celebrities, but also a few favorite authors, like Dennis Lehane who wrote Shutter Island that I met at a book signing at Powell’s in Portland. Unlike this particular instance, most of my personalized signatures I didn’t personally ask for myself. Instead, I’ve gotten them as gifts through the years. 

I have had my share of personal encounters with athletes, having worked closely with the Purdue Boilermakers, Indiana Pacers and Indianapolis Colts. My favorite teams are from Indiana University but only I.U. basketball’s Steve Alford, Mike Davis, and Kent Benson have autographed something for me. I met Coach Bob Knight at the Maui Classic and spent some time talking with him at a political fundraiser down in Austin. Purdue’s Coach Gene Keady, who will soon be a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, was a regular at my Lafayette TV station, WLFI, for the production of his weekly coaches show, as was football’s Joe Tiller, so there were always players available to meet. Most of them I honestly don’t remember or even made an effort to approach except for Drew Brees. After all, I was a Hoosier fan at heart and they were the frenemy but important to my business. Same was true when I talked with Coach Bruce Weber at the University of Illinois and met one of his earlier predecessors, Lou Henson, in our WISH-TV suite.

As for the Colts and Pacers, I attended many a media day and took clients to training camps for many years. Peyton Manning and Billy Brooks were my favorites, although I also met Jeff George at the station and did commercial shoots with most all of them including the most recent coach and former player, Jeff Saturday. Pacers’ legend Reggie Miller was a regular at our gym, Peak Performance. My favorite pro team is the Bears, and I was fortunate to meet Dick Butkus after his playing career was over. He was on a committee with me in Decatur to promote extension of Illinois Highway 51, his jersey number at Illinois and Chicago. I also shook the meaty hand of Mike Ditka at an Illinois Broadcasters event. The Bears were originally founded as the Decatur Staleys. 

I never met Michael Jackson or saw his signature moonwalk live, but I did serve on the board of Imagination Station in Lafayette alongside Purdue Astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to actually walk on the moon to this date. I’m also not much of a foodie but did enjoy taking a cooking class at Marshall Fields in Chicago with Rick Bayless, founder of Frontera restaurant. We have his autographed cookbook. 

My television career put me face to face with several Network on-air talents like David Letterman, Jane Pauley, Dan Rather, and Tom Brokaw, not to mention working with many local TV celebrities. Letterman’s fame spread to the racetrack where I also met 4-time winner A,J. Foyt, rode in a 2-seater with Mario Andretti, rubbed elbows with owner and Hollywood idol Paul Newman, met the great Roger Penske, and was teammates with Pancho Carter, Roberto Guerrero, and Kevin Cogan, among others. I once spent a sleepless night on the motel balcony next to Bobby Rahal just outside the Michigan International Speedway. I also went jet skiing with the entire Unser family on a race weekend. One of my Indy highlights was being transported by helicopter to and from the track with my WISH-TV guests, cellular tycoons Craig and Wendy McCaw. We watched the race from the Hullman Suite. 

Racing took me all over the country to sites like Long Beach, Monterey, Portland, Mid-Ohio, Texas Motor Speedway, Elkhart Lake, Milwaukee, and nearby Raceway Park in Indy for the U.S. National Drags where I met female speed legend, Shirley “Cha-Cha” Muldowney. Other fast women that I chatted with at racetracks were Lyn St. James and Danica Patrick. Throughout this time, I was lucky to have worked with the Derek Daly family, whose son Conor carries on their speed legacy. They introduced me to many of the big-time players in the sport at their home and in their trackside suites. Last but not least, I was able to treat my family to a day at the Daytona 500 where we encountered Clint Bowyer in the pit area. I asked him for an autograph for the grandkids not knowing who he was but recently recognized him as a FOX commentator for this year’s race. I was eventually gifted with the autographed ticket in a shadow box of his racing highlights. 

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was where I spent most of the month of May every year. I have a rather unique “Thanks for the Mousepitality” framed poster that hangs on the wall to remind me of when Disney came to the Speedway as my guest. They parked their performance semi next to our WISH-TV studios because they couldn’t get into the track, while the Indianapolis Star accused us of “Whoring with the Mouse.” I did several meet-and-greets with the characters and live performances around town, discovering that Mickey was really a girl, Minnie was a smoker, and all three of them, including Pluto, were Teamsters. It all culminated with the live unveiling of the 1992 Cadillac Allente pace car.

The annual Indianapolis 500 ball was a great opportunity to meet the stars, and we usually had a prime table. Next to us one year were very approachable Morgan Freeman and Patrick Dempsey. Other major sporting events in Indy like the Final Four also gave me the chance to meet Ray Romano, Kevin Costner, and Conan O’Brien. I also got a chance to talk to Mohammad Ali in a concession line. In 1997, the USA Track and Field Championships came to Indianapolis, and I was able to meet and get autographs from eventual Olympic champions Michael Johnson and Gail Devers. I still have the framed, signed poster in my collection. In 1991, Indianapolis also hosted the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick in Carmel where John Daly was the surprising victor. I had media credentials and watched the celebration, just as I had in 1988 at Bush Stadium (now Victory Field) when the Indianapolis Indians won it all behind the pitching of Randy Johnson. 

Annual CBS & NBC meetings in Las Vegas or New York put me in front of Hollywood’s finest such as Ruppert Boneham from Survivor and Mariska Hargity of Law & Order. The Who played the CSI theme “Don’t Get Fooled Again” and then joined us for the cocktail party where I got to exchange a few words. While in the Big Apple I also went to Martha Stewart’s studio to meet her and watch her cooking show with guest star S. Epatha Merkerson of Law & Order fame. While at the Broadway show, Hairspray, I got into a conversation at intermission with Henry Winkler, “The Fonz.” One evening while walking back to our hotel from meetings, I spotted Murder She Wrote star Angela Lansbury checking out of the Parker hotel.  Our hotel, The Rihga Royal was directly across the street from the Robert Morris talent agency where vocalists like Alicia Keyes, John Popper, and Olivia Newton John often frequented. 

One of my most memorable Radio promotions took place in Ft. Wayne, Indiana with the movie E.T. My son and I spent the day with Drew Barrymore, since they were both about the same young age. I also took him backstage to meet Gene Simmons and KISS before a concert and interacted with Jon Anderson of YES for a live radio interview on WMEE. I helped organize a Summer Concert Tour and spent many performances with the artists on stage and behind the scenes, but none were apparently as memorable as these. 

Contestant searches were a big part of my promotional responsibilities in TV.  The two biggest were Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. I spent a lot of time with Alex Trebek, Pat Sajek, and Vanna White. Ray Charles and the Pepsi girls once visited our studios for a commercial shoot for “You Got the Right One, Baby!” We created some :04 second IDs for on-air use. Back in my radio days, I spent the day with Bob “In the Butt” Eubanks doing store appearances for The Dating Game. 

When I was a kid, attending Indiana Junior Basketball Camp, I first met Meadowlark Lemon as a celebrity counselor. While in sales at WMEE, I played in an exhibition game against his Harlem Globetrotters where I also met “Curley” Neal and Marques Haynes. Another basketball idol of mine, George McGinnis, came to a party at my Bloomington apartment with two other Hoosier teammates Joby Wright and Ed Daniels. I then met Larry Bird at a golf outing, one of many that I was invited to play. Michigan State basketball coaches, Judd Heathcoat and Tom Izzo, were part of a pep rally I attended in East Lansing, wearing red I.U. gear that they were quick to tease me about. Current Alabama football coach, Nick Saban, was also a quick conversation at that Spartan event before he guided his team to a comeback M.S.U. overtime victory over my Hoosiers. It was just part of my O for East Lansing bad fortune throughout the years. 

With regard to the movies, Matt Damon and crew came to our WAND TV studios during filming of The Informant. They borrowed some equipment for the shoot. Sean Connery, James Bond, I met in the lobby of London’s Grosvenor Hotel during the BBC broadcast of the British Academy Awards. The movie Blue Chips premiered in Bloomington, so I was introduced to Nick Nolte at the red carpet showing. I said hello to American Pie’s Eugene Levy on the Wailea walking path while in Maui and to Matthew McConaughey in a U.T. football suite while in Austin. David Schwimmer of Friends dined next to me in a Bellagio restaurant, and I couldn’t resist the urge to say hello under the influence of good wine. Jim Belushi tried to cut in the security line in front of me in Las Vegas but didn’t recognize him in his Cubs hat until he sat next to us on the tram.

I spent some time in Austin as a cast extra in three television productions and would often speak and dine with the main cast members The first was Friday Night Lights with Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Jesse Plemons, and Buddy Garrity. I had several different roles including a member of the school board, as a customer at an auto dealership, and in the crowd as a Panthers fan. The second filming was Revolution where they aged my borrowed clothing with mud and dirt.  Finally, I was in a couple scenes of Grimm with Bitsie Tulloch.  Most of my many hours of minimum wage pay were spent just patiently waiting and many scenes were cut, but it was a fun experience of being close to stardom. 

I’ve already mentioned several musical encounters, as there have been many random sightings throughout my career. John Cougar Mellencamp I’ve spoken to at I.U. basketball games. John McKay of Steppenwolf was on plane with me from Las Vegas. Country artist, Jason Aldean, was part of a John Deer tractor giveaway that I set up in Portland while with Alpha Media. B.B. King, with his trusty guitar Lucille, I reached out to at the VIP door of the Cincy coliseum after a show. Mick Fleetwood – I acknowledged at his Maui restaurant, Fleetwood’s on Front Street along with his dinner guests Z.Z. Topp. Grace Slick answered questions live as part of her artwork display in an Austin store. Her biggest regret: Not doing Jimi Hendrix! Alice Cooper – I met in the early 70s while playing at a Ft. Lauderdale motel venue as Vince Furnier. Many years later I watched him do his syndicated radio show in the Alpha Radio studios. Mary Travers of Peter, Paul, & Mary asked me where the bathrooms were at our WISH-TV offices. 

Back to baseball, Scott Rolen is the son-in-law of my WISH-TV boss and soon to be a Hall of Fame inductee in Cooperstown. Ryne Sandburg of the Cubs once accidently kicked over my friend’s beer at Wrigley Field and signed his empty cup. Two former Dodger managers have crossed my path after meeting recently deceased Tommy Lasorda in a Dodger Stadium suite and sitting with Walter Alston’s family behind the dugout at Wrigley. My friend, his nephew, introduced me after the game. Another former Cub, shortstop Don Kessinger joined me and his agency buddy for lunch in Indy. Lastly on the baseball front, I met with legendary fireballer Nolen Ryan, not as a player but as owner of R Bank and The Roundrock Express in Austin. 

Final encounters worth mentioning include Illinois Senators Barak Obama and John McCain at the Capital Building in D.C. while on a Decatur Chamber of Conference trip.  Donald Trump tried to beat me to an empty phone booth in a Boston hotel. He was the speaker at a business conference long before cell phones, The Apprentice, and being elected President. I somehow recognized his name on the badge of colorful ribbons he was wearing and offered to let him go first. JFK, Jr. spoke as a representative of George Magazine at a San Diego Ad Club convention. I got to meet him at the reception following, fighting off all the adoring women who were obviously anxious to get close. Lance Armstrong was a frequent Austin sighting that I shook hands with at a Livestrong Cancer fundraiser. A friendly Heavyweight Champion, George Foreman, was holding court in the Watergate Hotel during one of my many visits to the city. Raymond Floyd had breakfast with me during the Grand Opening of his Redtail Golf Course in Fort Wayne.

In retirement, I miss the access to free tickets, suite seats, backstage passes, celebrity golf outings, credentials, fundraisers, and press favoritism. There are no more company paid conventions, business trips, fine dining experiences, or reasons to meet the rich and famous. I felt some sense of celebrity just being in the media business, but now all that’s left are great memories that I’m happy to share. I felt the need to write down all that I can remember because soon they will be forever forgotten. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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