Albie Duncan

Have you ever met/encountered-in-real-life someone REALLY famous?

It hasn’t happened that much to me and I never thought I’d find it all that big of a deal. (I’ve always thought that big-time fame must not be that great of a thing–other than the good you can do because of it.)

But apparently, I get star-struck and glassy-eyed with the rest of ’em:

– Once I walked right past Daniel Barenboim on Michigan Avenue right outside of Orchestra Hall. I completely froze and with my jaw dropped could only blurt out, “Maestro!” He smiled in return.

– Dan Quayle’s wife, Marilyn, and her many Secret Service agents, walked right past me when I was at an ATM in undergrad. I kind of felt bad that I hadn’t gone to hear her speak but I did greet her warmly.

– Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg smoked a cig in a practice room at my college back when I was still a piano performance major. (Who? Tara? Piano? Yes, yes … that was a LONG time ago.)

I’ve driven three Supreme Court Justices from Outer Mongolia all around a tour of Chicago. I’ve prayed with Pastor John Piper before a big conference plenary session. And I’ve had some Christian conciliation cases with people whose names you would recognize–but (OF COURSE!)–names I would never tell anyone (who didn’t have a need/right to know). Not even Fred.

But my all-time big-time famous person interaction JUST happened a few weeks ago in the WorldClub in Minneapolis.

Sophia and I were heading toward the snacks and we walked right past Hal Holbrook and his assistant! Good thing Soph is such a cutie-pie … I didn’t even feel that silly stammering out something along the lines of, “Wow! Hi! It’s an honor to meet you! We’re big fans. We LOVED you in The West Wing!” (He played a GREAT occasional character named Albie Duncan.)

It’s funny, isn’t it, how weird it feels to interact in “real life” with someone we’ve only seen on a screen or stage far away? I still laugh at my deer-in-the-headlights moments.

Hope you have a great Saturday!

Love,
Tara B.