I haven’t had too many interactions with famous people, but the ones that have been special to me are the following:
George H. W. Bush, when he was running for President and when he was Vice-president. We were fortunate to spend an entire evening with him. When he was Vice-president, we went to hear him speak at the Spencer YMCA and sat in the front row. Erin and Joel each got to ask him a question and their questions and his answers were replayed on radio and mentioned in the newspaper. Erin asked what his favorite part of his job was – answer: “All the people!” Joel asked how many Secret Service men he traveled with – answer: “I’ll ask,” and he turned around and asked a Secret Service, and then said, “about 10!”
George W. Bush – we met him at the airport when he was running for President the first time – such a man of humility. He patiently posed for pictures with us, which we still treasure today. I remember wanting to post the picture explaining that knowing me was the reason that he won, however that year it took more than a month to certify the victory so I had to wait patiently.
Hakeem Olajuwon – NBA Basketball player – We were placed at the same table with him at a Japanese hibachi restaurant in Minneapolis. The Houston Rockets, his team, had just played the Minnesota Timberwolves, and he had come to this restaurant by himself for dinner. I remember him walking in the restaurant – and he was dressed in a beautiful suit and expensive shoes and was incredibly tall. I asked Poppy what he thought this man did. Poppy answered, “When you are that tall, you play basketball.” A few minutes later they called our names for our table and Hakeem Olajuwon – even though I didn’t recognize him in person, I immediately knew who he was as I had followed his college career and NBA career sports stories. He came to the US from Nigeria for college and was very, very good. He was a soft-spoken individual and stayed at our table for a short time before a Timberwolves player spotted him and invited him to go to their table. It was pretty thrilling for me.
Nikita Khrushchev – This man was the dictator of the Soviet Union in the 1950’s and part of the 60’s. He came to the U.S. and threatened to “bury us” in a speech at the United Nations, and then toured Iowa, coming to Iowa State University. He was in a parade of sorts right in front of Grandpa Hazen’s office, and I remember his car passing so close to my feet that I thought I was going to get run over. He was fat and bald, smiling and waving. But we were all afraid of him.
Because Iowa has the first in the nation caucus we also had a chance to see Vice President Walter Mondale, President Ronald Reagan, and Senator Bob Dole. When Bob Dole came he went to our church and Joel and his men’s quartet sang the national anthem for him.
Liza Minnelli – When my brother Chris was appearing on Broadway in “Fool Moon” I was supposed to meet him at the stage door and when I did, I bumped into a lady I said excuse me and it was Liza Minnelli.
