Writer's Block: Close Encounters of the Celebrity Kind

[puppetmaker]

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Wow. There is a loaded question for me. I think it is kind of who you view as a celebrity.

I have a lot of friends who are celebrities in various fields.

I know the Indigo Girls from college. After we would get done with whatever show we were doing at Theater Emory, we would head off to wherever the Indigos were playing and support them. I still have their first vinyl 45 and album.

I went to George Takei and Brad Altman's wedding. I have known George and Brad for a number of years now. I first met George at a convention in Chattanooga when I was subbing in for someone for the Mighty Rassilon Art Players. We got a meet and greet with George and Nichelle. Then years later Peter introduced me to George and Brad.

There are entire casts of science fiction shows that know who I am through my husband.

In puppetry, I met Jim Henson a couple of times. He recognized me after a while but he had a really good memory for faces and names. I worked with Jon Ludwig who is a fracking genius. I have met some serious powerhouses in the industry who's names mean little outside it.

I have a lot of friends in the comic book and book industry. I knew Neil Gaiman before he was NEIL GAIMAN. Terry Brooks is a sweetheart as is his wife. Marv Wolfman is a great guy and a wonderful person to go out to dinner with. Chris Clarmont is a lot of fun to talk with. I count Harlan Ellison among my close friends.

Then there is my husband who is very well known in several circles. We met at an SF convention when he bought a Klingon puppet from me.

My list could go on and on to include bands I met when I was working various shows.

Comments

[queenanthai.livejournal.com]

Terry Brooks! I love his books! You're right; he is a sweetheart. True story: when I was twelve (lo, those many years ago), I wrote him a fan letter with a drawing of one of his characters. Months and months later, I get a letter with no return address, postmarked Hawaii. I open it up, and there's a handwritten letter from the man himself, thanking me for the drawing and letting me know that "maybe someday" there would be a book about Jerle Shannara's time.

I still keep that letter pressed between the pages of First King Of Shannara. :)

[a-joyous-life.livejournal.com]

What a fun combo of people! I've seen the girls so many times that Emily knows me by name, which I think is cool, yet I don't really know them. It's wicked cool that you have their first 45. Jim Henson is a god; I would very much like to have known him.

I've written about my celebrity encounters several times, yet highlights was having lunch with Michael Stipe and Natalie Merchant---they interviewed ME about outsider artists I knew, and I spent the night in bed with Bjork, and we talked until five in the morning---no sex...

Of course Karlita likely blows us all away. She's done massage for the likes of Brad Pit and Coretta Scott King, plus dozens of major touring bands and several big films. She's been out shopping with Courtney Love, and road the bus on a ZZ Top tour when she was dating Jeff Healey---however those stories are hers to tell...

I know they're just people, yet celebrity encounters do make me happy.

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

Wow, you should so write a book on "Inside the World of fantasy and Sci fi" describing all the people you've met!

[ambwilson.livejournal.com]

Well, that makes my 'riding on an elevator with Three Dog Night and Orville Redenbacher' seem sort of lame. Met some rock stars during college, too, most notably Damn Yankees, working backstage at the concert venue.

I have met a lot of alt fiction authors and artists from my convention days (and they might even remember me) - I was chair of the local con for a few years and Hubby and I did some handy ones and the yearly trek to GenCon when we wrote for RPGs and he was putting his art in the shows. But, I forget to count them as celebrities because they're just folks who happen to be various degrees of famous. :0}

Counting them, though, I particularly enjoyed hanging out in the consuite with Stephen R Donaldson and taking Jeff Dee out to dinner.