Met Alexander Solzhenitsyn at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow in 1996, where his son Ignat, a classical pianist, was performing.
In 1994 said “Hello” to Al and Tipper Gore and Canada’s then deputy prime minister, Sheila Copps, as we crossed paths on the lawn in front of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. Surprisingly, they appeared to only have one security person with them, a flinty-eyed woman.
Way back in 1964, met former Canadian Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party John Diefenbaker in his office. He was very friendly and had a lot of time for our small group of eighth grade pupils.
At one time, lived in a small apartment building on Toronto’s eastern waterfront. Looked out my 2nd storey kitchen window one morning to see a “familiar” face sitting behind the wheel of a 40’s pickup truck, waiting to shoot a scene. Went out to investigate, realized it was Henry Fonda (father of Jane and Peter, grandfather of Bridget, for you youngsters).
Met Johnny Winter, the blues guitarist, having a coffee at the lunch counter of a greasy spoon, before a show in Toronto. He was very friendly and talkative.
Hung out for a few hours with Gayle Garnett (wrote and recorded “We’ll sing in the sunshine”) in a small Ontario town. I vaguely remember that we talked about Indian food, music, movies and life.
Talked with Yann Martel, author of “Life of Pi”. He went to the same high school as my son and came back to give a talk.
Sat near Scarlett Johansson on a flight from Toronto to London.
Sold a mountain bike to Roger O’Donnell, keyboardist for The Cure.
Sold a Burley Bike Trailer to Sarah Ferguson, then the Duchess of York, wife of Price Andrew. She had a LOT of “handlers” with her.
Sold a titanium triathlon bike to Michael Cowpland, founder of Corel Corporation (CorelDraw). I remember when he picked it up I popped off the wheels, wrapped the chain in plastic and put it in the back seat of his wife’s bright yellow Aston Martin Virage convertible. Nice guy, nice car, hot wife.