This picture was taken in late February 1998, during the last week of Brent Spiner's performance in the Broadway Show 1776.

The show was great, and afterwards I got to meet him. It was cold and raining out that evening, but they let the crowd of fans wait inside for the actors to come out. I only had to wait about 10 minutes before the cast came out. There were 10 or so people waiting to see Brent. He came out and was very happy to see us. He greeted us with a big "Hello!" and signed the Playbills. There was one older child there who kept giving him ‘Data’ pictures to sign, and although he didn’t look too happy about it, he signed them all. Finally he got to me, and I just stood there, frozen. My friend said, "Well, go meet him!" He signed my Playbill and I asked him how he was able to sing so loudly every night. He said, "It takes time, but you get used to it." I said I could never do that, and he laughed and said, "I didn’t think I could do it either." Then I asked him to pose for a photo with me; he smiled and obliged. Then my friend shook his hand and told him what a great show it was. Brent’s face lit up and he thanked him. Then he shook my hand. He had the softest skin. He looked great, but this picture doesn’t do him justice. His hair was long, he looked trim and very young. We left, and I walked around New York with the Playbill and my friends' expensive pen in my hand, and a large smile on my face.

Louise Fletcher

OK, so it's not the greatest picture but I had to take it in a hurry. This photo was taken on Sunday, May 9, 1999 at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. It was the first annual film festival held in Birmingham, Alabama. Louise Fletcher is the only person from Alabama to win an Oscar. She won it for Best Actress in the movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. She is also known as Kai Winn on Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Louise was given a lifetime achievement award at the Sidewalk Festival...just before the ceremony, I saw her and shook her hand and asked if I could have a picture taken with her. She was in a hurry and didn't have time to talk but she smiled quickly and the picture was taken.

Hank Aaron

This photo was taken when I met Hank Aaron. It was during an autograph session at a Baseball Card Show. There were about 300 fans at the Sawgrass Mills Mall in Florida waiting to get his autograph. I waited for about an hour, then he autographed my ball. I asked him if it was all right to have a picture taken with him, and he gladly said yes. Afterwards, a lot of the people were selling their balls for $100 at the baseball card show in the mall, but I decided to keep mine.

Greg Colbrunn

This photo was taken the first time I met Greg Colbrunn. Greg was a good player for the Marlins when they were a bad team. I went to Joe Robbie Stadium that day to meet him and get his autograph. I must have waited two hours. When I was in line and close enough to see him, I noticed he was checking me out. I couldn’t believe it, I mean the man never looked up from the ball he was autographing, but he stopped to catch a glimpse of me. When I got to him, I asked if he wouldn’t mind if I could take a picture with him, and obviously he said yes. I met him two times after that, but he never looked up from the ball he was signing again. About a year later when the Marlin’s shifted their gears and became a great team, indeed a championship team, they traded him. Now I believe he’s a utility infielder for the Colorado Rockies.

Rodney Dangerfield

This is a picture of Rodney Dangerfield, and that’s me with him! That picture was taken about ten years ago. Rodney is the uncle of a former employer of my mothers’. So one day he came to Miami for his great nephews Bar mitzvah, and decided to stop by my mothers’ office to visit his nephew. My mother let me go to work with her that day to meet him.

Rodney showed up about three hours late, and we were getting ready to leave. Finally he walked in the door wearing a wrinkled shirt and very short-shorts. His hair was dyed blond and he looked just like he did in the movies. And yes, he’s just as funny in real life as he is in the movies and on stage. He walked in and walked right up to me, not even knowing who I was and said, "Gee you know, this place is hard to find. I got lost! So I rolled down the window of my limo and asked this guy on a bike how to get to North Miami Beach, and he looks at me and says, ‘Hey! You’re Rodney Dangerfield!’ so I say, yeah I know! How do I get to North Miami Beach? And the guy says to me again, ‘You’re Rodney Dangerfield!’ so I said to the guy, Yes and thank you for reminding me, but I need to get to North Miami Beach!"

So I posed for the picture and my mothers’ boss came out and introduced us to him. That weekend we went to the Bar mitzvah and Rodney was there. He wore a tuxedo and sneakers, (I guess the guy liked to be comfortable!) and naturally everyone at the Bar mitzvah was crowded around him. The whole twist to this story is when Rodney discovered he had a fondness for my mother! So he kept dancing with her and talking to her all night! At one point, he was seated at a table with her and his family and he was holding her hand; I walked in an almost died! He looked up at me and said, "Denise, I’m in love with your mother." I opened my arms wide and yelled, "Daddy!" And yes, Rodney laughed.

After the Bar mitzvah, whenever Rodney would call my mothers’ office, he would always talk to her, and he even asked her out. My mother on the other hand was not impressed with his ‘celebrity’, (which is probably why he liked her) and declined every time. Finally after a month or so, he gave up. My mother’s just not the type of person to date a celebrity, although I still wonder to this day what it would have been like if she had dated him.

About a year later, Rodney married a woman my mothers’ age, and who resembled her. I have no idea if they are still married or not, for I’ve never seen Rodney after that fabled Bar mitzvah.

Luther Campbel

When I was back in Miami, Fl for the holidays in 1999, I had floor seats to the Miami Heat game. And who was seated next to us? Well, none other than Luther Campbel himself! Yes, the Nasty as He Wants to Be in the flesh. I knew he'd be there, since he always has the same seats, so I did come equipped with my camera, and a very old Two Live Crew CD, which he was happy to sign! Everyone in our section knew him and talked to him quite a bit.
He's not nasty in real life, at least, he wasn't to us! He just sat in his seat and watched the Heat beat the Jazz....oh yeah, it was his 39th birthday! I was so tempted to walk up to him and sing, "Yo Luke, it's your Birthday, it's your Birthday, it's your Birthday...!"

But, I didn't! :-)

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