Alexi Lalas - US Soccer team -walking thru the terminal so I didn't say anything

Paul O'Neill - NY Yankee in LaGuardia. Sitting right behind me in the terminal. This was right after his father died and he was heading back to Cincinnati for the funeral so I didn't say anything to him.

Charles Oakley - on flight from JAX-LGA. The poor guy barely fit in his first class seat - now I feel guilty when I complain about lack of legroom.

Not me - my friend sat next to Henry Kissenger on a flight DCA-LGA and they talked the whole time. My friend was in a wheelchair and hooked up to all kinds of IV's since she was being transffered between hospitals and he was very friendly to her. She got his autograph but I wish she had gotten one for me too.

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I wish I were 1,000 miles away

In 1999 in the middle of a two-week stay at the Woodcliff Lake Hilton in NJ the concierge floor (which I was on) was overrun on Saturday with the entire NY Giants Football team. It seems the team spends the night before home games at the hotel. Nothing too wild going on but I did witness a few games of catch in the parking lot!

Don King at the gate in ORD
Chris Everett (former tennis player) on a flight EWR/FLL in F class.

LAX President's Club: The famous, one and only Gordon Beautane (SP?) of Continental fame, who walked into the bar on a Sunday morning, shook everyone's hand and said "Hi I'm Gordon, thank you for visiting the club."

The staff was stunned. he flew in and flew out.

Outside he was mobbed by several women who wanted to take his picture with him. I am guessing they were Continental employees.
I snapped his pix from a distance and approached and thanked him for posing. He shook my hand and said "thanks for Flying Continental."

I was on United that day!

But a nice guy that Gordon. He should coem to a Flyers do sometime.

Sean Connery. YYZ -> LGA. Summer 2000. Me in 3D, 007 in 3F. Whisky and Soda stirred not shaken. Talked about Soccer

The Gordon Bethune story (good one!) reminds me of a sort-of run in I had with his family on a flight from IAH-SAN several months ago.

I was seated in F, and a little girl was next to me (no older than 6 yrs or so). Across the aisle was presumably her mother, and little brother (even younger.) The children were remarkably well behaved, and the girl struck up a conversation with me, telling me how her "grandpa owns the airplanes". I must have looked a little confused, because she told me that he "owns the airline". I thought perhaps it was her imagination, or she was telling stories, as kids do, but they all seemed used to flying in F, and the FAs were fawning all over the three of them.

They kids even went up to the cockpit for a visit with the pilots (while we were still waiting to board the plane entirely.)

So I guess I am 2 degrees away from Mr. Bethune?

John Walsh from America's Most Wanted. A man I thought was him was making a dash through the OAK terminal toward Baggage Claim I didn't get a good look at him because we were both walking in opposite directions, and he was "speeding". He had that look like "don't stop to ask me for an autograph because my flight is late and I don't have alot of time" (can't blame him either). Everytime I see him on TV, I think of his son Adam who was kidnapped and murdered back in July 1981, and how much of a positive impact he made on getting so many criminals where they need to be. Adam certainly isn't forgotten about over here.

I forgot, I also saw someone who looked identical to David Benoit (he did the newest version of Linus & Lucy) in F class on a flight between SJC & RDU. He was just kickin' back relaxing, so I didn't bother him to see if it really was him.

Erik.

[This message has been edited by Planenut (edited 07-23-2001).]

Hi Folks

The Gordon Bethune thread is interesting; he is a fellow watch collector & I run into him at conventions several times a year, I never even think of him as having anything to do with flying, he is just another collector to me.

On the other hand, I was flying from Kansas City to MCO about 6 or 7 years ago and was in the left hand seat of the centre block of the first row in First Class. I just made the flight & out of breath dropped into my seat next to some older guy, who looked kind of displeased when I sat down. Then one of the FAs almost burst out crying when he handed her his hat to store. Then when the flight took off, all these people came up and asked for his autograph; including a small girl who offered him a book about ballet dancing to sign. I didn't get it & I turned to him & said, "You don't look like a ballet dancer" and he burst out laughing; it turned out he was a coach for some US football team, I think his name was Landry or something.

Good Luck
James

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London UK.
AA EXP
Hilton HH Gold

Today, Michael Stipe of REM fame, on the LAX-ATL red-eye.

Flying FC, of course. A FA gave me the heads up, so I stuck my head through the curtain for a view when everyone was sleeping!

Celebrites I have seen while travelling.

1) George Clinton ( of Parliment Funakdelic) on FC on a MSP-MDW flight, in FC.

2) Susan Hawk (that hideous annoying runner-up in Survior I- you know the truck driver- "The Snake Eats the Rat" speech. She was across the aisle from on a DET-MSP flight in FC, shortly after the show ended and towards the end of her 15 minutes. She was loud and obnoxious.

3) Former US Senator Rod Grams. MSP to DCA- in December on last year to clean out his office. .

4) About 15 years ago when athletes flew with the rest of us, I saw the entire Portland Trailblazer team, including Drexler, etc. in LAX. They stopped to sign autographs and were very nice and pleasant to everyone. They were hard to miss.

5) Not on an airplane, but twice in the past year in hotels I have run into Carl Everett, the Red Sox' mercurial center fielder who doesn't believe in dinosaurs. I'm a huge Red Sox fan, but neither time I bothered him- partially because I'm terrified . He has a bit of a reputation of having a little temper. Once was in the Westin Mich Ave. last summer on a Sunday morning. The other time was in April in an elevator in the Boston Sheraton about 2 hours after a game.

5) Walter Mondale waiting with me for a car in the Ritz Carlton St. Louis.

6) In high school I rode in a hotel elevator with Troy Aikman. This one is the only time I have actually interacted with a Celeb. The long and bizarre story follows:

In Fall 1991 I was a High School senior. Myself and some friends were at some student conference in LA, at one of the LAX hotels. The primary unstated purpose of the weekend away was that you got to spend the weekend in a hotel full of girls and all sorts of unsupervised hotel rooms. God bless whoever was the first person to suggest that high school students have co-ed "conferences" at hotels....

I digress...

We're checking into the hotel, when all of a sudden there is a big commotion. I had noticed that there were a bunch of yahoos hanging around the lobby. One of my friends pokes me in the shoulder and says "Hey, I think that's the Dallas Cowboys! I'm going to go grab some autographs." I declined, knowing that looking like a geeky autograph hound would seriously damage my chances of succeeding in the main goal of the weekend if anyone I cared about noticed. Besides, I like every other rational person, hated the Cowboys.

I got the keys to the room, and trudged with my bag across the lobby, towards a corridor towards the elevator, which as I recall, was a long way away. As I trapsed across, I saw a mass of people around a tall blonde guy. As I passed right by, I noticed it was Aikman, largely by the shrieks of "Troy, Troy" from the mass of "humanity" (if you can call Cowboys fans human). As I walked past the mass, I paid no attention, and as I passed, I heard someone say "Hey dude, hold up a second!" It was a voice I didn't recognize, so I stopped and turned around. I saw Troy AIkman walking quickly towards me. Strange. As he gets to me, he holds it his hand, and says softly "Do me a favor, and pretend you know me , and walk with me" I shake his hand, and play along, "Troy, how's it going? Good to see you." We engage in BS conversation and walk quickly towards the elevator, down this corrdior. Meanwhile, the mass of humanity subsides, and he says "Man, I'm sorry about that. I owe you one. I just had to get out of there. Thanks a lot." "No problem", I said.

Ever since then I have never approached a celebrity outside of an arena where it would be appropriate. There are two aspects to this.

First, they're just people like us.
Second, everyone deserves some peace and quiet and personal space. I can't constantly having my personal space violated all the time.

[This message has been edited by BoSoxFan45 (edited 07-23-2001).]

Sorry, but Kelly was the runner-up.

My short list is Deion Sanders in SDF as he was walking towards his flight on WN

JFK -- CDG -- GVA in mid 1993

Upgraded to first and had a fine flight and connection to GVA. When we exited customs was surprised by a mob of reporters. Turned around and hard on my heels was Robert Reich, who had made the trip in coach. At first I felt guilty (I was just a 20 something in first while the Sec of Labor is in Coach) but got over it by telling myself 1) he's 4'6" tall and econ seats are like first at that size; and 2) he's representing labor ... cant fly in first with a job like that.

jer

DL ATL-DCA Martin Sheen was on my flight, humorously enough, he was riding in the back, while I was in FC. Guess being president in Hollywood doesn't buy you that much!

Saw Richard Dreyfus, Helen Gurly Brown and David Brown in the Admirals Club Saturday (7/21) a.m., and then R.D. flew (FC) with us to LAX

[This message has been edited by certils (edited 07-23-2001).]