In addition to the other celebrity sightings I've had (which I have already mentioned), here are a few others:
- Back in 1964, they opened the new Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown with a Wayne & Shuster comedy revue. My mother spotted Johnny Wayne wandering around the plaza of the Confederation Centre and dragged me over to meet him and get his autograph. He was quite pleasant about it. I would have been seven years old.
- In 1968, I inadvertently got within a couple of feet of Pierre Trudeau during his election campaign for Prime Minister. He was doing a walkabout in downtown Charlottetown, and Trudeaumania was just becoming a thing. There were thousands of people there, including quite a few screaming young women (it was almost like he was one of the Beatles). I was standing next to a car, which ended up being the one which had been used to transport him to the event. I was so close I could have touched him.
- In the early 70's during one of the royal tours that pass through PEI every 3-4 years or so, I similarly came within touching distance of Prince Phillip. Again I was standing next to his limousine, and was close enough to him to get a really good look. He was visiting Beaconsfield (the province heritage society building). The Queen was off somewhere else.
- I've seen the royals on many other occasions, but the only other time I got fairly close was with Prince Andrew and Fergie sometime in the 1990s in Borden PEI.
- In 1985, I was at a conference in San Diego, and Pete Rose wandered in after a game and sat down in the hotel bar not too far from us. My friend walked over to him to get his autograph for his son and Pete refused (and it wasn't a kind refusal either). What a jerk!
I'll try to remember some other encounters for a future instalment later.