You’ll never guess who I saw...

I’ve seen two celebrities “on the street” so to speak, not in connection with an arranged event, meaning the fact that I saw the cast of Star Trek at the opening of the exhibit at the Wax Museum in Anaheim doesn't count.

The first time was in the early 1980s. We were having dinner in a restaurant in Hollywood with a freelance writer Richard was working with on the magazine he was editing. It was an Italian restaurant, and I was eating linguine and white clam sauce.

Ed Begley Jr and his wife came in and sat down at a booth, kitty corner across from me, so that his wife was facing me. I got to watch as one person after another approached the table to talk to him. She looked around the restaurant; stared off into space. She looked at me. I smiled at her, she smiled back; a bleak sort of smile. Whatever quiet evening they were planning to have together was mostly ruined.

The next celebrity I saw was in the 1990s. We were given a a gift from my parents -- a 2-night stay at the historic Zane Grey Pueblo hotel on Catalina Island, which was Zane Grey's home. We went down to the waterfront to eat, and Ed McMahon was there with some other people. A cruise ship was anchored off shore, and I think he had come off the ship; he probably was the “celebrity in residence” on the cruise. I had enjoyed watching watched him be the sidekick to Johnny Carson for many years. He seemed so much smaller in real life. I stopped watching The Tonight Show before Johnny Carson retired--not because I didn't like it, I was just too tired to stay up that late any more. I had forgotten about seeing him until I saw the announcement that he had died.

I am interested to know if any readers who happen to land here have seen a celebrity, and of so, who did you see?