Encounter: Fraser McAllister

Fraser's father was the proprietor of the famous London store Harrods. I knew him at Oxford, where four of us put together what was then a brilliant one-time publication about the university. It was expensively printed on glossy paper, and on the cover were the words "Satire Takes the Lid off Oxford". We enlisted the help of some of our generations best known undergraduate writers, and we sold a lot of copies. Fraser was the editor-in-chief, and our acknowledged leader. I was the business manager: we didn't make a large profit, but we more than broke even, quite an accomplishment for an undergraduate magazine in the early fifties.

Encounter: Jimmy Carter

I preferred to fly into Gatwick years ago, when visiting England. This meant flying into Atlanta and changing planes, but it was worth it to avoid the hassle and frequent delays at Heathrow.

On one return journey, I had taken my seat well before takeoff on the left-hand side of the plane. I noticed the former president shaking hands with the first-class passengers seated on the right-hand of the plane. I moved over to the right side, correctly assuming that this famous glad-hander would continue. Sure enough he did as I had expected, and exchanged a few words of conventional greeting with everyone. Satisfied by the experience, I moved back to my assigned seat on the left side of the plane. Meantime, President Carter had shaken hands with everyone in economy, and there was still time for him to come back from business class into the first-class cabin, there was no way he could remember who he had already greeted, so I enjoyed a second handshake with Jimmy Carter that day.                          

     

Encounter: "Dr. Seuss" (Theodore Geisel)

Before Lincoln had its own development officer, it made use of a consultant with the appropriate name of "Howard Raingold". He and I were in touch, and one day he told me that Ted Geisel lived nearby. Howard wanted me to join him to give lunch to the famous author, who had spent some time at Lincoln.

Somehow, Howard was able to obtain a table for us at the Pacific Union Club, a private institution on Nob Hill.

The lunch was pleasant enough, but Ted Geisel told us that he had not enjoyed his time at Lincoln, and that he had no intention of making a donation or bequest to the college. So much for "Dr. Seuss".

Encounter: David Attenborough

It was probably in 1944 that I met David when we were both taking a shore course at the naval base near Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. He was an junior RNVR officer, and of course his last name rang a bell with me. It turned out that he was, indeed, the younger brother of the noted film actor Richard Attenborough, who died in 2014. At the time, I just found it interesting to meet the younger brother of a famous actor. I had no inkling that David would soon be attaining his own fame as a broadcaster and naturalist.

Encounter: Ladybird Johnson

In June 1976, my eldest son (Jeremy) graduated from high school, and the two of us celebrated by taking a car trip, which brought us to Yellowstone. We were looking down at a wonderful view from a high point on the trail, when we noticed Ladybird at the same place. She was accompanied by just one male aide, probably a secret service person. This was just four years after the death of LBJ. We had a brief but very pleasant conversation, probably about the beauty of our surroundings, and I remember how friendly and gracious she was.

Encounter 3: David Whitfield

David was born in February 1926, just over a year before I arrived on the scene. I knew him when he was a member of my division when we were both serving in the Royal Navy. The Wikipedia articles says that he entertained his fellow members of the Royal Navy during World War II". He certainly entertained his shipmates when I first met him, but he may not have actually joined the Royal Navy until after the war. We certainly recognized his talent, but it was only recently that I had learned of some of his achievements. He was the first UK male vocalist to earn a Gold Disk for the number of his records that were sold. He was very famous when I saw him next. This was probably in the late fifties, when at my request he very willingly preformed for what was some good cause, which I no longer remember. David died in Sydney, Australia when on tour, in 1980, when he was just fifty-four.

Encounters

For the next few weeks, I plan to write short notes about some of the interesting people I have known and spoken to. There will be some famous people, some who influenced me, and a few with "titles". I should not try to put these into datal order, but just as I think of them. 1.When my first wife and I lived in San Francisco, we became members of a babysitting co-op, most of whose members had some connection to the U.C. hospital system. Dianne Fienstein's former husband had been a top doctor at UCSF, and they had a beautiful home on Forest Hill, in San Francisco. I was always happy to leave our own home and spend an evening at "DiFi's" home. She always welcomed me warmly; the daughter never woke up; the furniture was very comfortable; and I could enjoy music from a wide selection of cd's on the sound system there. Meeting the future senator took place sometime before she became Mayor of San Francisco. 2.When my first wife and I moved to Berkeley, we again joined a babysitting co-op. The house where Mario Savio (a principal figure in the free speech movement) lived was quite near our own home. I don't think I have ever seen a home in such a mess. I particularly remember that the refrigerator was sorely in need of defrosting. I was glad that I only had to spend one uncomfortable evening in that house, but it was interesting to meet Mario Savio in person.