(Celebrity?)
If I ended up standing in line at McDonalds behind Brad Pitt, I'd probably be excited. I'd tell friends and use the story at parties. If I shook Barack Obama's hand at a rally or something, I'd think of it as a big deal. I'm as interested in celebrity culture as the next kid raised on Entertainment Tonight.
However, for me, the people that I consider "famous" are writers. If I stood in line at McDonalds behind Kurt Vonnegut (which would be something considering the fact that he's dead), I'd be freaking out. If I got to shake Jeff Smith's hand or Brian K. Vaughan, I'd consider it a huge, huge deal. Because I'm a nerd.
When I attended the National Undergraduate Literature Conference at Weber State the first time as a college student, I went around for weeks telling people I met the 1993 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The Pulitzer freaking Prize!
Later, when I met Norman Mailer and Tess Gallagher and Robert Hass and Alan Cheuse and Alice Sebold and Glenn David Gold and Antonya Nelson and Chitra Divakaruni and whoever else, I just felt fancy. Unless you're an English major, you probably haven't heard of half of the names I just named - but to me they were celebrities!
Even when some no-name, random poet would pass through Pocatello or Boise, I was always excited to go to their reading and buy their book just because - they were writers! They had written a book that someone had published! It all just seemed so glamorous to me.
So anyway, imagine my pleasure when, while browsing the cruddy selection of books at the Goodwill in Bloomington earlier today, I came across a signed, hardcover copy of Chaim Potok's Old Men at Midnight. Now, I'd never even heard of this book of his - but his Asher Lev books, The Chosen, and Zebra are among my very favorite in the universe. I love his work and was sad when I found out he'd passed away in 2002. I was sad because I knew he wouldn't be writing any more books for me to fall in love with. So to come across his signature (I assume it's his, the copy had one of those Barnes and Noble "Signed Copy" stickers on the dust jacket) in a book for a dollar twenty five was just sort of too good to be true. I'm excited to read it and my day was made a little bit brighter with this small, nerdy brush with fame.
(Celebrity!)
So here's a roll call question for you: who would you most like to find yourself standing next to in the line at McDonalds?
7 comments:
As a fellow nerd, I can only say:
Oh my heck--a signed Potok??
Too cool.
Well, I am impressed ! Never give up at Goodwill ! I found my favorite book of Turkish Folk Tales there at the Portland outlet (? "outlet") Store while looking for something for Dad. Smelled musty, though ... had to air it for a week before closing it.
As to the "line-standing" ... author-wise probably John Grisham, but hunk-wise probably George Clooney.
Once,in the Honolulu airport, I stood next to David Jansen, the original Fugitive. :o)
I don't think any of the celebrities I think are cool would be dining at McDonald's. Then again...maybe Meryl Streep does crave a Big Mac from time to time??? It's probably more likely I'd see one of my bloggy crushes there though...that'd be fun...Melanie saw Nie Nie's kids at a playland in Mesa I think.
Bloggy crush, nothing, Suzy. If you ended up at the same place as the Duggar family, you'd have a heart attack of joy.
If she ended up with the Duggars at McD's, there would be no Happy Meals left for Miss Parker Faye Brown, Baby who Never Misses a Meal ! (see Suzy's post !)
Well I believe I posted about something exactly like this . . .
I forgot to ask for his picture because I was such a nerd.
I want the Potok. You should give it to me. Because I told you to read Asher Lev.
An aunt sent me a book of poetry she had bought at a second-hand store. It's by an LDS poet. It is inscribed, "To Elbert--thanks for Sunstone!" and signed. I'm sure she means Elbert Peck, who edited Sunstone for years.
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