Tag Archives: DROPPING NAMES

Name-Dropping Confession # 8

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From Bruce Bishop

I was trying to think of a famous person(s) who I’ve met to add to your blog post, but only three came to mind from when I was in my 20s. I was a waiter in Toronto and served the singer k.d. lang; author Margaret Atwood; and British actor Michael York.
When I was in my last year of university in Halifax, I was the Arts Faculty representative. I booked ‘Mandrake the Magician’ to give the students and faculty a show…The poor man was so elderly and frail at the time, his performance was less than magical, and quite underwhelming, to say the least. That was in 1975!
Judy’s Note:  Leon Mandrake, a real-life magician, had been performing for well over ten years before Lee Falk introduced the comic strip character. Thus, he is sometimes thought to have been the source for the origin of the strip. Leon Mandrake, like the fictional Mandrake, was also known for his top hat, pencil-line mustache, and scarlet-lined cape. Ironically, Leon Mandrake had changed his stage name to Mandrake to match the popular strip and then legally changed his surname from Giglio to Mandrake later. The resemblance between the comic-strip hero and the real-life magician was close enough to allow Leon to at least passively allow the illusion that the strip was based on his stage persona.[7] Leon Mandrake was accompanied by Narda, his first wife and stage assistant, named after a similar character, who appears in the strip. Velvet, his replacement assistant and eventual lifetime partner, would also later make appearances in the strip along with his real-life side-kick, Lothar

Name-Dropping Confession #7 by Laurie Devine

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Name-Dropping by:  Laurie Devine

This has been on my mind all week. Hope it qualifies, although we didn’t actually talk.Fergie & Me at Harrods.

This must have happened in mid 1980s when I was living in London writing a novel. One afternoon I was wandering around not really shopping but cruising Harrods, the legendary department store, trying to understand why it was so famous. I had always been a big shopper but excelled at sales, boutiques and street markets. Harrods seemed boring, staid and crazy expensive.I was in ladies hats, but making for lingerie when, across a wide table of ugly hats, I spied someone I knew.Sort of.Could that be Fergie? Sarah Ferguson!Married to Prince Andrew (who was not yet disgraced).I stopped, as they say, in my tracks.And I stared. Really, I stared at her like she was on wide screen tv, Lifesize.

She, like me, was young then. Good red hair. Not fat at all. Pretty. By herself.And what she was obviously doing was shopping for one of those big royalty hats they all wore.I stood and stared. Blue hat,  yellow, one of those goofy “fascinator” confections.She tried on every hat on the table, while I raptly watched. I mean, relentlessly stared. We must have been about ten feet away from one another, but I never relaxed that state, never made any human connection, just stared at the British princess.Of course she noticed.She got into the swing of it, began smiling and pretending to cry or get mad or flirt as she tried on each hat, obviously not happy with any but turning this speechless encounter with the staring stranger into a laugh.

This went on for awhile, as I stared, so captivated that it wasn’t until she finally tired of the hats, actually blew me a kiss, and walked away, that I realized what a dork I was. She had me totally spellbound. But she had been so naturally warm and funny and fun.In the years to come, with her divorce and scandals and breast cancer, I always smile when I remember that chance meeting with the likeable princess and Harrods hats. Blessings to her! Thanks for opportunity to share! –Laurie Devine

Name-Dropping Confessions #5 — From Dolly at Koolkosherkitchen

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The assignment was to tell a story about an unusual meeting with a famous person. I love this one!!!

4h agokoolkosherkitchen

Due to the nature of my work in the old country, I’ve had to work with quite a few famous people (please don’t see it as bragging – it was my job!). When the Perestroika opened the borders, they started trickling here one by one to perform. I have many stories of their first encounters with America, but I think the funniest was the visit of the late great MIchail Zhvanetsky, the foremost Russian satirist, who always requested my borscht when he came to Miami. Having enjoyed the borscht, this time he wanted to be taken to one of the restaurants “with Spanish music” on South Beach. We went to Il Paparazzi, famous for its Northern Italian cuisine, and I translated the menu. He wanted Veal Parmigiano. As soon as the wines were discussed and his choice presented, he requested that it be warmed up. That was a shock which the sommelier managed to bear with a smile because I explained that our guest had a slight throat coarseness after his show and needed warm red wine.
Then the food came. He demanded soy sauce – in a posh Italian restaurant. The Chef ran out of the kitchen, brandishing a ladle dripping with tomato sauce, screaming, “I am Chef Vittorio! There is no soy sauce in my restaurant!” By the time we calmed him down and explained that our guest was a Russian celebrity, who might be allowed his quirks, the veal was stone cold. Chef Vittorio, understanding the importance of international relations, sent someone to the nearby Japanese restaurant for soy sauce and prepared a brand new plate of Veal Parmigiano, delivered by the Chef himself with a flourish.

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Name-Dropping Confessions #1, May 4, 2025

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:The challenge was to tell us about an unusual meeting with a famous person—giving as many details as possible!  Here are a few answers given in the comments section of the blog I published the prompt in. If you have a longer story to tell, please put it in a blog and send me a link in comments. Once my appetite for stories has been partially sated, I’ll tell you mine. It just awaits telling.  Here are a few early answers to the prompt;

3h ago I Walk with My Dogs

I consider my entire life to be a bizarre circumstance. I met Sir Edmund Hillary at Arapaho Basin. We were in line for hamburgers being grilled over a woodfire halfway down the mountain.

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3h ago serial monography: forgottenman’s ruminations

I’ve only met one – Duncan Renaldo! Who, you ask? Better known to my generation as The Cisco Kid. I even did a lil blog about my encounter. (Read about Forgottenman’s interesting encounter, with a picture, by clicking on the link below:

https://okcforgottenman.wordpress.com/2019/04/23/the-day-the-cisco-kid-rode-into-town/

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Tiffany Arp-Daleo has a very interesting twist at the end of her story:

I’ve met a few, but maybe the most bizarre is Greg Douglas, the guitarist for the Steve Miller Band. My ex was the sound guy for USO shows, he befriended Greg so we all hung out a bit, he was all set to play guitar at our wedding, but I called off the wedding the day before, never saw  Greg again!
Now, tell us yours!!!!