An Even Better List Thread

[Pompey Bum]

Ten ways to cover up the fact that one* hasn't really read a book or historical figures you've met or seen:

*See what I did there?

Wikipedia, Wikipedia, Wikipedia!

President Lyndon Johnson (saw)

"Well, you know, it's been long time..."

President Gerald Ford (saw)

Thug Notes with Sparky Sweets, Ph.D. (worth watching either way)

Vice President Walter "Fritz" Mondale (met at a party)

Netflix: the Merchant-Ivory Collection

Senator Edward "Teddy" Kennedy (met at a party)

Go to a library and ask strangers

Queen Elizabeth II, d.f., dei gratia (admired from a distance; didn't care for the hat)

[Pompey Bum]

My goodness, this place got quiet. Heh heh.

[mona amon]

I don't think I've ever done either, at least not since I was very young. Once I remember submitting a long list of books I'd read during the vacation without actually having read a single one, and our suspicious teacher picked 'Little Women' from the list and asked me what it was about. I was able to rattle off a neat summary because Mom had told me the story (She also spoiled me for Jane Eyre, which I didn't appreciate that much when I came to read the book for myself). Reading the Classics Illustrated version https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classics_Illustrated was also a good way to pretend that you'd actually read the book.

[Pompey Bum]

Oh, me neither, Mona, but we were speaking of one, and well, one is only human.

I also met Kurt Vonnegut and Eugene Ionesco briefly after talks they had made. And I saw Muhammad Ali at a book signing. I didn't meet him because I didn't buy his book (I just walked into the bookstore and there he was). He looked pretty detached at that point.

Edit: Now that I think of it, Ionesco hadn't made a speech (and didn't seem to have much English). I met him at a reception after one of his plays. I was on intimate terms with the stage manager. All so long ago.

[mona amon]

OK then -

I know God of Small Things author Arundathi Roy. She was a senior at school. Oh wait - this is actually true! I can't do this!

[MANICHAEAN]

Not sure about the books part. I could not finish "The Master and the Margarita" as I found it too disturbing. But I think I claimed to have read it in its entirety somewhere along the line.

Most probably got three Hail Mary's for that!

I'm on stronger ground regards historical figures; seen or met:

1. Was part of the crowd and saw a young Queen Elizabeth drive by. Mind you I must have been about eleven years old at the time and the British bobbies used to put the kids in the front.

2. Attended live concerts in London of both Louis Armstrong and Buddy Holly. That was fantastic.

3. At Churchill's funeral I was outside St Pauls and saw: an older Queen, Prince Philip and most of the royal family.

4. While out in the Middle East, I met, shook hands and spoke to: Gordon Brown (UK Prime Minister at the time), Ed Milliband ( Environmental Minister), Princess Anne & the son of the Emperor of Japan.

5. Driving in London once, a car pulled out in Kensington with Princess Di in the back looking round. I followed it to some function she was attending nearby, and got a good view when she emerged.

6. At the London School of Economics I attended a talk by Malcolm X ( 1963 I think.)

7. The most interesting one however was at Pope John Pauls funeral in Rome. I was in the Sheraton going down in the hotel lift on my own. It stopped half way and in got Teddy Kennedy. I made some remark about, "Now I understand what all the security is about." He was very gracious and apologized for the inconvenience. When we got out at the ground floor, I then saw John Kerry.

I suppose in a way I've been very lucky.

M.

[sowjanya]

ooooh wow you seen John kerry its so amazing for you .

[Pompey Bum]

Ah, not finishing a book and later claiming to have read it! An excellent one, M. I still think it's a riot that the most of the other LitNetters are being so demure about the subject. Hail Marys fly, no doubt, in private.

I spoke with John Kerry on the phone years ago. It was a business call--before the days of conference call so it was just the two of us. He was very cordial. I also spoke with Martha Coakley, the Massachusetts Attorney General who who was groomed for but failed to win Ted Kennedy's Senate seat after his death. She was a witch with a capital C, and I later took great delight in voting against her. And speaking of Massachusetts politicians, I had an odd experience a few years ago when I very nearly ran down a pedestrian who strolled blithely in front my moving car. I jammed my brakes hard, but he just looked up and waved. It was Mike Dukakis, the Massachusetts governor of my youth who ran unsuccessfully for president against George Bush in 1988. Wouldn't it have been weird if I hit him?

Oh yes, I saw that whole royal mob along with the Queen. I remember Prince Phillip and Princess Margaret. Prince Charles (pre-Diana) must have been there, too, although I don't have a clear memory of him.

Louis Armstrong and Buddy Holly are pretty good sightings. Now that I think of it, I saw Dylan perform back in the day. And my wife saw Chiang-Kai Shek's body as it lay in state. That's about it for us, though, unless you count baseball players.

[ennison]

I once saw the back of Charlie Chaplin's head receding in an open-topped car. It didn't like like a whore's head (at the time) but I was only about nine so I wouldn't really have known (at the time) if it did