In no particular order, who are the five most famous people you've met?

[Scott5114]

What is partying with Linus like?

Like a LAN party, but without the games?

Instead everyone gets together to make a spurious calendar, I assume.

[ModernDayWarrior]

I too have met Ken Jennings--sadly, not on Jeopardy (I've auditioned twice but haven't gotten The Call yet) but at a national quizbowl tournament we were both moderating. I only talked to him briefly, but he seemed like a genuinely friendly guy. This was a couple years after his 74-game winning streak but well before he became the host.

The single most famous person I've ever met was Patrick Swayze. My parents threw my tenth birthday party in a hotel that had an indoor water park, and he was staying at the same hotel. I didn't recognize him, but my late grandma, who was always just a little bit obsessed with meeting celebrities, happened to see him walking by and ran up to him for a chat. He wrote "Happy Birthday!" and signed his autograph on a piece of hotel stationery. I don't have it anymore, sadly--it was destroyed in a house fire. But I've gotten a lot of mileage out of telling the "Patrick Swayze attended my tenth birthday party" story over the years.

I met and shook the hand of Christopher Hitchens at a book signing in St. Louis around 2010 or so. He was already showing the effects of the cancer that would kill him a year or two later, but was still incredibly outgoing and chatty.

I've met former US Senator and current MSNBC political pundit Claire McCaskill three times. She actually remembered me the third time, which I found astounding, especially since our first two meetings lasted maybe a minute or two combined.

I lost a hand of poker to Mike "The Mouth" Matusow at Downstream Casino outside of Joplin about fifteen years ago. Didn't get to hear him verbally berate anyone, though, which was disappointing.

He's much less famous than the others on this list, but I've gotten to talk to Andy Benes, who used to be a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, several times. His son played shortstop for Drury University and I worked at the stadium where they played their home games. He usually watched from the press box and chatted with us, since it was the only part of the ballpark that had air conditioning. I have his autograph too, somewhere.

[kphoger]

Instead everyone gets together to make a spurious calendar, I assume.

It's fun to think of the layers of understanding someone has to have in order to get that joke.

[Great Lakes Roads]

I've met the owner of Buc-ee's, Arch "Beaver" Aplin III three times (all of them at grand openings)!
I also have met a former governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, at (coincidence) the Buc-ee's grand opening in Mount Crawford! He shook my hand and thanked me for visiting the great state of Virginia!

[kphoger]

I've met the owner of Buc-ee's

I think we now have proof that Buc-ee's is a cult.

Meeting the owner of a chain of gas stations that has less than 10% the number of locations as Love's?    

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Since the last time I posted, I can now say I've met someone who has been to the Olympics: Eliseo Martín, during a charity walk in his hometown of Monzon.

[Rothman]

Since the last time I posted, I can now say I've met someone who has been to the Olympics: Eliseo Martín, during a charity walk in his hometown of Monzon.

I'm friends with Rowena Hyldahl (nee Bright, 2002 Salt Lake, Australian skier)

[bugo]

Steve Harris
Janick Gers
Tori Amos
Moby
Mike Watt

All musicians.

[skatcher]

Oh wow!! This is an interesting topic. Does meeting Road Guy Rob count? If not, it should 

I should preface that I dabbled in student-run radio a little bit in high school and college (the high school had a 3000 watt FM signal with a reach of a million people within a 10 miles radius from the tower in a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, and the college station eventually got an AM signal that didn't even reach the entire campus), and I am a booster of my alma mater, the University of South Florida, so I have come in contact a few people. I will say I don't go seeking autographs or signatures; I prefer to treat famous people like people. I will give you five people that I had actual conversations with instead of just brief contact. I'll do this in chronological order.

1) Daniel Franzese (actor best known for his role as Damien in Mean Girls)
We were classmates in high school, and we worked together in our high school's radio station. I don't really have any stories to tell, as I never really interacted with him outside of the radio station.

2 and 3) Duke Erikson (musician and record producer best known as a co-founder and guitarist of the band Garbage) & Butch Vig (musician and record producer best known for producing Nirvana's Nevermind album, and as a co-founder and drummer for Garbage)
I interviewed them while they were touring in support of Garbage's 1998 album Version 2.0. They had just finished shooting the music video for the song Special not long before the tour brought them to Tampa, and they had given me a verbal preview of the video, as it had not yet been edited for distribution. It made the interview a little more special because I got to hear about it personally from half the band before anybody had even seen it.

4) Michael Kelly (current Athletic Director at Navy and former Vice President of Athletics at the University of South Florida)
I have had many interactions with him throughout his tenure as VP of Athletics, but one of the best experiences the Athletic Department set up was an invite-only dinner for about 10 or so people at a local sports bar where we had a conversation about fan experiences. This was early in his tenure, and from what I had heard is he tried to have these informal small group experiences with as many boosters as possible.

5) John Harbaugh (current head coach of the NY Giants and former head coach of the Baltimore Ravens)
USF is building a new football stadium set to open next year, with the other primary tenant being the women's lacrosse team, which just started competing last year. I bought season tickets (second row) last year to support our newest team, especially since they are going to be playing in the new football stadium, which most of my booster donations are currently going to. John's daughter was a starter on the team for last year's inaugural season, and his family's season tickets were immediately in front of me. Him and his wife never missed a game, and they were always friendly. John insisted getting a photo after the second to last home game of the season.

I got a bonus I just remembered: I got the chance to hang out and have some drinks with Northern Irish band Ash after they left the stage as an opening act for some emo band (I couldn't care less about the emo band)

[Great Lakes Roads]

I've met the owner of Buc-ee's, Arch "Beaver" Aplin III three times (all of them at grand openings)!
I also have met a former governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, at (coincidence) the Buc-ee's grand opening in Mount Crawford! He shook my hand and thanked me for visiting the great state of Virginia!

Add a few more to this list-
Governor Mike DeWine at the Huber Heights Buc-ee's grand opening
Pittsburgh Dad at the NFL draft (he's hilarious)

[formulanone]

I should preface that I dabbled in student-run radio a little bit in high school and college (the high school had a 3000 watt FM signal with a reach of a million people within a 10 miles radius from the tower in a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, and the college station eventually got an AM signal that didn't even reach the entire campus)

WKPX? I wasn't a really big radio listener by the time high school ended, but I still tuned into that one for a few more years. There was always a good chance you wouldn't hear the same song twice in the same week because of the variety.

[skatcher]

I should preface that I dabbled in student-run radio a little bit in high school and college (the high school had a 3000 watt FM signal with a reach of a million people within a 10 miles radius from the tower in a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, and the college station eventually got an AM signal that didn't even reach the entire campus)

WKPX? I wasn't a really big radio listener by the time high school ended, but I still tuned into that one for a few more years. There was always a good chance you wouldn't hear the same song twice in the same week because of the variety.

YES!!! I was there from 93-96. When were you listening?

[formulanone]

I should preface that I dabbled in student-run radio a little bit in high school and college (the high school had a 3000 watt FM signal with a reach of a million people within a 10 miles radius from the tower in a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, and the college station eventually got an AM signal that didn't even reach the entire campus)

WKPX? I wasn't a really big radio listener by the time high school ended, but I still tuned into that one for a few more years. There was always a good chance you wouldn't hear the same song twice in the same week because of the variety.

YES!!! I was there from 93-96. When were you listening?

Vaguely on and off from 1991-97 (I'd moved out to other parts of Florida for school during the time but still came home a lot), but then sporadically again the following decade...it didn't pick up so well out by Pompano Beach, though a little better at night.

Mostly didn't tune in for any particular show, but a good inspiration when I wasn't sure what to listen to. Discovered a few bands and occasionally found out about new albums in the days of a simpler internet. I also remember putting it on while on visits to Uncle Sam's Music (RIP) because the signal was much better in Lauderhill.

[skatcher]

I should preface that I dabbled in student-run radio a little bit in high school and college (the high school had a 3000 watt FM signal with a reach of a million people within a 10 miles radius from the tower in a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, and the college station eventually got an AM signal that didn't even reach the entire campus)

WKPX? I wasn't a really big radio listener by the time high school ended, but I still tuned into that one for a few more years. There was always a good chance you wouldn't hear the same song twice in the same week because of the variety.

YES!!! I was there from 93-96. When were you listening?

Vaguely on and off from 1991-97 (I'd moved out to other parts of Florida for school during the time but still came home a lot), but then sporadically again the following decade...it didn't pick up so well out by Pompano Beach, though a little better at night.

Mostly didn't tune in for any particular show, but a good inspiration when I wasn't sure what to listen to. Discovered a few bands and occasionally found out about new albums in the days of a simpler internet. I also remember putting it on while on visits to Uncle Sam's Music (RIP) because the signal was much better in Lauderhill.

The tower is about a quarter mile or so from Uncle Sam's down 44th St. They don't broadcast from the high school anymore; the school board moved the studios down to their TV broadcast facility in Davie.

You can stream the station at beacon.tv/wkpxfm. The programming is a combination of mostly classic rock and classic alternative, with a little bit of modern alternative. They don't have live DJs anymore. They still have some lesser known stuff in rotation that I was spinning 30 years ago.  In some ways it sounds even better now than it did in my era

[Dough4872]

I have met multiple NASCAR drivers, but the five winningest Cup drivers I met are Richard Petty, Kyle Busch, Bill Elliott, Joey Logano, and Brad Keselowski