Do you have a local celebrity

[Tapioca Dextrin]

I was just watching the local news, and one of Austin's best loved local celebrities has featured with his new line of fridge magnets (http://news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=177440) (link is work safe, but the link to bookpeople might raise few eyebrows).

What eccentrics live in your home town?

[WhyNot]

I live in Chicago, so the list is pretty nearly endless.

However, I just found out that the very apartment unit I live in used to be rented by either the roadies for or the band itself: Insane Clown Posse (http://www.insaneclownposse.com/detect.php) (details vary depending on who you ask - the landlord said it was the roadies, but the older tenants say the band lived here, even if they weren't on the lease). That definitely explains the weakened, creaky floorboards everywhere!

[corkboard]

Stephen Colbert goes to my church. So does a character actor that I remember seeing on TV in the 70's and 80's, but except for church, otherwise haven't seen for ages. I have no idea what his name is.

[Troy McClure SF]

Meet Frank Chu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Chu), probably our favorite since Emperor Norton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton).

[ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies]

We have Baton Bob (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baton_Bob).

This (http://www.flickr.com/photos/phillipm/21915257/) is how I'm used to seeing him. More pictures (http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=baton+bob) on flickr.

[StinkyBurrito]

Cleveland has Big Chuck and Little John (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Chuck_and_Little_John) . Out of towners just don't understand it at all and usually give a big ol' "WTF" :confused: .

[tashabot]

We have Willow Bill, who makes things out of willow withes and is in love with one of the reporters at my newspaper (he made her a willow heart).

We also have a gentleman who has MS and drives a bike around with adverts attached to the back. It's how he makes his living. He has pulled a big rig with his bike (no trucks attached, just the trailer itself), so he's a pretty amazing guy. I cannot for the LIFE of me remember his name.

There's more, but those two I remember offhand. We're very protective of our quirky local celebrities here - we may tease about either of them offhand, but if an out-of-towner starts to make fun of them we jump in to their defense. It's really weird.

Oh, also, Darrell Rasner (The New York Yankees) went to high school with me. His cousin Jake Rasner (The Chicago White Sox) is also a graduate of my high school.

~Tasha

[Caricci]

We have this guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Cianci) . He's been living out of town recently, but we expect him back soon.

We also have him (http://www.votehealey.com/) . He ran for Lt. Governor on a platform of abolishing the office of Lt. Governor. My husband sees him at the Home Depot in Seekonk all the time.

RI is a funny place - you see the local celebs doing ordinary stuff all the time.

[Beadalin]

Around Minneapolis and St. Paul we have Fancy Ray. Here's a recent news story about him (http://www.startribune.com/464/story/819984.html) -- his MySpace page is such an eyesore I had to spare you.

We've also got Miss Richfield 1981 (http://www.missrichfield.com/), portrayed in drag by Russ King.

[WordMan]

Quite a few:

- a columnist for The New Yorker who also writes the occasional non-fiction book as well
- Joe Klein, the columnist for Time, who wrote the novel Primary Colors as "anonymous" before he was found out
- the fellow who wrote the book An Underground Education - a book all Dopers shoudl know and love, given it's treasure trove of trivia
- A number of big wigs at the NY Times and other publishing places. I am pretty sure the head of Conde Nast lives in the nicer part of our town (i.e., not near me!)
- a local reporter known in NYC for being one of the "Consumer Advocate" reporters - "someone did you wrong in a business transaction - tell our guy!"

Living in a suburb of NYC will do that - but our town in particular seemed chock full of writers and publishing types...

[Rigamarole]

L.A.? I don't think any celebrities live here.

[Antinor01]

L.A.? I don't think any celebrities live here.

I've heard rumors of a few in my neighborhood, but I don't believe them.

[WordMan]

L.A.? I don't think any celebrities live here.


Yeah, if you're talking LA or Chicago, clearly you need to narrow it down to your neighborhood or something. I live outside NYC, but only focused on my little bedroom community, where I see the folks I mention grabbing coffee at the local shop all the time...

[DeVena]

Eccentrics? I live in a State Capital. Eccentric is just another word for Legislature.

[ZipperJJ]

I went to school with (and disliked) the pipsqueak who tried to unionize McDonalds (http://www.afn.org/~iguana/archives/1998_07/19980704.html)

[tremorviolet]

I was just watching the local news, and one of Austin's best loved local celebrities has featured with his new line of fridge magnets (http://news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=177440) (link is work safe, but the link to bookpeople might raise few eyebrows).

What eccentrics live in your home town?

Dang, I was just coming here to mention Leslie and I see he's the motivation for starting the thread. :)

When I was in San Diego a couple of years ago, I saw a guy roller-blading on the beach sidewalk wearing a captain's hat, a card board boat, a thong, and waves painted on his naked butt cheeks. Definitely a Leslie-esque character and I understand he's famous there tho' I don't know his name.

[ASAKMOTSD]

We have Eminem, Barry Sanders, and going back a ways, Madonna.

Nope - no celebrities here.

[Man With a Cat]

Denny Hastert is my congressman.

[FairyChatMom]

I don't know who may live around here, but when I was in Orange Park, FL, there were a couple nearby. Slim Whitman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slim_Whitman) was reported to live in Middleburg, which was just south on Rt 21. I never saw him, but some friends claimed they encountered him in the Winn-Dixie.

To the east of Middleburg is Penney Farms, home of the Penney Retirement Community, which is home to the retired Munchkin Coroner (http://www.wizardofozfestival.org/?pageid=42432) from the Wizard of Oz. He is frequently featured in the local news.

[longhair75]

Warren Buffet lives a couple of miles from me. Gerald Ford and Marlon Brando were born not far from my old neigborhood

[Rigamarole]

Yeah, if you're talking LA or Chicago, clearly you need to narrow it down to your neighborhood or something. I live outside NYC, but only focused on my little bedroom community, where I see the folks I mention grabbing coffee at the local shop all the time...


Well, if you want to talk about a truly local celebrity, as in someone known here but not outside of L.A., there's always the Venice beach guitar guy... (does he have a website? Googling "Venice beach guitar guy" only turns up mentions of him on blogs etc.)

[jjimm]

Our local celeb list is pretty much endless thanks to the university. Some are, of course, a bit of a stretch at "local", some of them are dead, but some are genuine and current.

Off the top of my head, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Philip Pullman, Richard Dawkins, Inspector Morse, Bill Clinton, Radiohead, Supergrass, JRR Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, CS Lewis, Tim Rice, Tim Henman, Rowan Atkinson, Winston Churchill.

[Tapioca Dextrin]

Inspector Morse.

:D

[jjimm]

Yeah, I admit it: he's dead.

[JCorre]

We have Eminem, Barry Sanders, and going back a ways, Madonna.

Nope - no celebrities here.


Don't forget Jack White!

[El Perro Fumando]

Since D.C.'s too easy, I'll go with Bawlmer, which is actually closer to where I live:

John Waters, director and all-around awesome guy
Duff Goldman, baker and star of Ace of Cakes (http://www.aceofcakestv.com/) on the Food Network
Edward Norton, grandson of local developer James Rouse, and he may have acted in a movie or two. Don't think he lives around here anymore though.

As for my real hometown, John Wilkes Booth's house is our premier tourist attraction. (Hey, he was a celebrity. . .)

[wolfman]

For a city the size of Denver we have amazingly few celebrities. John Elway is probably the only one known Countrywide. As far a local there is the Barrel guy.

Now that Gerald Ford and Hunter S. Thompson are gone, there really arn't many in the whole state.

[jackelope]

We got this good-looking fellow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_presley); coincidentally, it would have been his 71st birthday today. (There are some others (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famous_people_from_Memphis) as well.)

[Squeaker Snow]

Peter Frampton.

[supervenusfreak]

Both Treat Williams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treat_Williams) and Roy Scheider (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Scheider) went to college here. There is also Junior Vasquez (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junior_Vasquez) , the DJ who put Madonna on the map. He still has a home in the area somewhere.

[psycat90]

A true local celebrity - The best I can come up with is the owner of one of the breakfast joints here in town. He's kind of cheesy and loud outside the place, telling bad jokes and wearing a 70s leather jacket, always runs for public office, and is just sort of a known name in town. His place is actually a favorite of ours, and of our out of town guests. Think 'pretty damn close to Hooters' and omelettes.

I love it.

Actual celebrities - I've seen Tom Waits and Joe Montana around town a couple of times each. That's about it. I know Levi Leipheimer lives and cycles around here for part of the year, but I wouldn't know him if he walked or cycled right by me.

[jackelope]

We got this good-looking fellow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_presley); coincidentally, it would have been his 71st birthday today.And when I say "71st," what I mean is, of course, "72nd."

:smack:

[Sublight]

I don't know of any living in my neighborhood (Tokyo as a whole has plenty), but there are a couple originally from here.

Marc Panther, singer for the pop group Globe. He's now living with his wife and kid in Okinawa.

Sada Abe, the subject of the film In the Realm of the Senses, mostly famous for walking around Tokyo with her lover's tool tucked away in the folds of her kimono. Died some years ago.

[mobo85]

Joe Lewis trained in Pompton Lakes.

[Mbossa]

Wellington's best example of a local celebrity as described by the OP is probably Blanket Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hana). You really don't have to look very hard to find him sitting around grooving to his portable radio. As much as they may hate to admit it, I reckon deep down every Wellingtonian thinks he's freakin' awesome.

As for "real" celebrities, Wellington is the home of this guy called Peter Jackson. Maybe you've heard of him. I believe he made a moderately successful movie about some pixies stealing rings or something.

Reports that Russell Crowe was born in Wellington are merely vicious rumours spread by embarrassed Aussies.

[Hostile Dialect]

Here goes!

The Famous Chicken (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_Chicken) is probably the only one out of this list that counts as eccentric.

Reggie Bush went to a high school three miles from where I live now (if you look closely, sometimes he wears "619", our area code, in eye black during games). Two of the three all-time Yankees to have thrown perfect games--David Wells and the other guy who isn't David Cone--went to Point Loma High School, a couple of miles from my high school. Donnie Edwards grew up in San Diego, as did Junior Seau, Alex Smith, Kellen Winslow, Ricky Williams and Bill Walton. UCSD's Geisel Library is named after contributor Theodore Geisel, AKA Dr. Seuss, who lived and died in the area. Jonas Salk and Francis Crick also lived and died in La Jolla, and co-founded the Salk Institute.

Gregory Peck and Raquel Welch lived in La Jolla. Anne Rice lives in La Jolla, as does Doug Flutie. Famous biochemist Kary Mullis lived in La Jolla, along with Carl Rogers and Raymond Chandler. La Jolla is mentioned in Surfin' U.S.A.

Cameron Crowe attended high school and college in San Diego, and accordingly Fast Times at Ridgemont High was based on the life he observed while "undercover" at Clairemont High School. Pro skateboarders Tony Hawk and Bob Burnquist, soccer internationals Frankie Hejduk, Steve Cherundolo and Julie Foudy, and international snowboarding star Shaun White are San Diegans. So is Cameron Diaz.

McDonald's founder Ray Kroc lived in San Diego, and left his fortune and the San Diego Padres to widow Joan, who later sold the team and contributed to the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace of Justice at USD, among other philanthropic efforts.

Fabio and RuPaul are San Diegans. Louis XIV is probably the local rock scene's latest notable export, although the Subways made their American radio debut on 91X (91.1 FM) here.

[Fern Forest]

Rabbit (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4288553.stm) lives in my building. I've talked to him quite a bit. Hm, actually haven't seen him in awhile. Hope he's ok. Probably is, it's easy to miss people for years in my building if you just go out at a different time then they do.

There used to be this guy with MS who was always tricycling around slowly or pushing his walker with the big orange flags on it. He lived just down the street. You'd see him all over Honolulu, everybody knew him. He even cycled across America to raise money. Haven't seen him in years though. He's most likely gone.

[Antonius Block]

Hmm.. previous posters seem to have understood the OP's question in one of two mutually-exclusive ways:
Who are your "local celebrities", i.e. those who are (in)famous in your neck of the woods, but totally unknown elsewhere?
Which widely-known "celebrities" live in (or are from) your locality?
Assuming the first meaning, my previous apartment was a few blocks away from where the San Francisco Twins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Twins) lived, and they apparently still eat once a week at my old neighborhood haunt (http://www.yelp.com/biz/yNMCITEPGh6cgqd6VDfQOg), where I used to run into them all the time.

[matt_mcl]

Recently deceased beloved local strongman/actor/itinerant/Hair Golf enthusiast The Great Antonio (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Antonio).

Homeless shelter/services founder and consistent winner of "Montrealer Closer to Sainthood" polls Father Emmett Johns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Johns)

[matt_mcl]

Oh -- and drag empress of all media Mado Lamotte (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mado_Lamotte).

[delphica]

Buffalo has a local celebrity lounge singer, Lance Diamond (http://www.buffalorising.com/home/archives/2005/02/mr_lance_diamon.php).

The thing about Lance Diamond is that he has had a lounge act forever, just about. I mean, he's really a good lounge singer. I remember my parents going to see his act when I was a little kid. At some point in the 1990s (as best as I can tell), the whole retro thing re-discovered him -- he performs with the Goo-goo Dolls (another Buffalo act), and he gets that his current appeal is camp and definitely plays up that aspect of it. I sort of miss the pre-camp Lance.

[Moirai]

Well, if you want to talk about a truly local celebrity, as in someone known here but not outside of L.A., there's always the Venice beach guitar guy... (does he have a website? Googling "Venice beach guitar guy" only turns up mentions of him on blogs etc.)


What about Wavy Gravy (http://www.benjerry.com/our_products/flavor_graveyard/raise_flavor.cfm)- is he still down there?

[Moirai]

And the celebs I see doing ordinary stuff?

John Wayne went to my dentist growing up.

Robert Englund shopped at Albertsons.

We have a bunch of baseball players and former athletes.

I saw the whole Anaheim Ducks hockey team in line behind me at the airport check-in the other day.

Eh, we see lots of folks.

[Gangster Octopus]

Yeah, if you're talking LA or Chicago, clearly you need to narrow it down to your neighborhood or something. I live outside NYC, but only focused on my little bedroom community, where I see the folks I mention grabbing coffee at the local shop all the time...

Well I live in the Los Feliz area of Hollywood, just south of the Hollywood Hills. I have no doubt that celebrities frequent my laundramat, various bars and restaurants, the supermarket and such right by my house. Unfortunately I doubt I would recognize them if they came up to me with a copy of US magazine and their picture on the cover.

[Roonwit]

Erskine Caldwell was born here. So was Lewis Grizzard (homespun author) and Andrew 'Drew' Hill (former WR for the LA Rams). I went to school with country music stars Alan Jackson and Doug Stone (whose real last name was Brooks).

But my favorite local celebrity was Bohannon (http://www.discomuseum.com/HamiltonBohannon.html). Ten pounds of funk in a five-pound sack. (If you're a Motown fan, you know him, even if you don't know it.) :cool:

[ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies]

CNN.com is currently carrying a video segment/interview titled "Meet Baton Bob" on their most popular videos tab.

http://www.cnn.com/video/partners/clickability/index.html?url=/video/showbiz/2007/01/08/tbs.storyline.baton.bob.cnn

[NurseCarmen]

Nurse Carmen (http://www.pavekmuseum.org/davies.htm) of course.

[gigi]

Fred Tuttle (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878340/) (Ok, he's dead) ran for Congress.

"While the other candidate pledged to limit spending to $1,000,000 US, Fred pledged to limit his spending to $16. Tuttle pulled an upset victory in the Sept. 1998 primary" He won partly by confounding the flatlander with questions such as how many teats does a cow have.

C. Everett Koop lives around here now.

[Clothahump]

Bush 41 lives here in Houston, about 3 miles down the road from me.

But our local celebrity is none other than Marvin Zindler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Zindler) , who rose to fame by getting The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas closed down. This, of course, was the (in)famous Chicken Ranch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Ranch_%28Texas%29) in La Grange, Texas. The story is what served as the basis for the play and later movie.

Marvin manages to do some good here in Houston as a consumer activist. But he's most noted for reading health reports on restaraunts and looking for one line, which he bellows out: 'SSSLLLLIIIMMMEEEE IN THE ICE MACHINE!".

[Scubaqueen]

good old noblesville, indiana (far north side of indianapolis. i lived there for about 25 years before moving just down the road)

noblesville is the birthplace of:

Rex Stout, the creator of Nero Wolfe, the popular detective series.

Steve Wariner, country music singer and songwriter who enjoyed popularity during the 1980s and 1990s

Retired U.S Air Force Colonel Pete Knight who was once the fastest man alive.

Norman Norell, who was once one of the world's leading fashion designers.

not too shabby for a little old indy bedroom community, huh?

[Martha Medea]

Where I live now, there are a number of well-known national political and showbiz faces, including the nephew and daughter of a national heroine, but their names would probably not resonate with Dopers (well, maybe with one or two of them).

In Gibraltar in the late 80s, I rubbed shoulders with a handful of people who had become household names (in the UK at least) as a result of them having given controversial testimony about the 1988 IRA shooting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Flavius).

But the best local celeb had to be Peter Cushing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Cushing) in the early eighties when I lived in the Kentish seaside town of Whitstable. You'd cross paths with him at the greengrocers, spot him across the tea room and glimpse him riding his bicycle down the High Street.

[UntouchedTakeaway]

Where I live now, there are a number of well-known national political and showbiz faces, including the nephew and daughter of a national heroine, but their names would probably not resonate with Dopers (well, maybe with one or two of them).

In Gibraltar in the late 80s, I rubbed shoulders with a handful of people who had become household names (in the UK at least) as a result of them having given controversial testimony about the 1988 IRA shooting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Flavius).

But the best local celeb had to be Peter Cushing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Cushing) in the early eighties when I lived in the Kentish seaside town of Whitstable. You'd cross paths with him at the greengrocers, spot him across the tea room and glimpse him riding his bicycle down the High Street.

Did you ever have a chance to speak to him? By all accounts I've read, he was just the nicest man and very devoted to his wife.

VCNJ~

[UntouchedTakeaway]

I don't know who may live around here, but when I was in Orange Park, FL, there were a couple nearby. Slim Whitman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slim_Whitman) was reported to live in Middleburg, which was just south on Rt 21. I never saw him, but some friends claimed they encountered him in the Winn-Dixie.

To the east of Middleburg is Penney Farms, home of the Penney Retirement Community, which is home to the retired Munchkin Coroner (http://www.wizardofozfestival.org/?pageid=42432) from the Wizard of Oz. He is frequently featured in the local news.


My dad retired to Middleburg (I grew up in Jax) and also reported on Slim Whitman sightings as well.

Richard Boone ("Have Gun, Will Travel") was a pretty visible presence in St. Augustine and Patrick O'Neal ("The Stepford Wives") lived in Ocala.

VCNJ~

[Moirai]

Reggie Bush went to a high school three miles from where I live now (if you look closely, sometimes he wears "619", our area code, in eye black during games). Two of the three all-time Yankees to have thrown perfect games--David Wells and the other guy who isn't David Cone--went to Point Loma High School, a couple of miles from my high school. Donnie Edwards grew up in San Diego, as did Junior Seau, Alex Smith, Kellen Winslow, Ricky Williams and Bill Walton.

Heisman Trophy winner (and NFL bust... so to speak) Rashaan Salaam graduated from La Jolla Country Day School.

[UntouchedTakeaway]

I was just watching the local news, and one of Austin's best loved local celebrities has featured with his new line of fridge magnets (http://news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=177440) (link is work safe, but the link to bookpeople might raise few eyebrows).

What eccentrics live in your home town?

Celeste Holm has a farm in my town. Whitney Houston's NJ home that was until recently on the foreclosure block is two towns over in Mendham. Jim Breuer (Goat Boy from SNL) lives in the next town over - Chester.

VCNJ~

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

Forgive me if this was posted already..

I used to live in Mr. Roger's neigborhood!

I would see him at the local market (not the Giant Eagle but the other one in Shadyside- can't remember) and his wife was a pianist in town.

My good friend lived accross from the PBS station (gads, no memory- WQED?). One wintery day she was crossing the street, slipped and then heard a melodic voice from behind "are you all my dear?"

Yup, Mr. Rogers.

[Hostile Dialect]

My good friend lived accross from the PBS station (gads, no memory- WQED?). One wintery day she was crossing the street, slipped and then heard a melodic voice from behind "are you all my dear?"

Yup, Mr. Rogers.


:eek: What a jackass!

[Patrick Bateman]I specifically said "blonde".[/Patrick Bateman]

[Troy McClure SF]

Oh, we also have the Bush Man (http://www.sfist.com/archives/2006/11/09/punked.php).

[Kairos]

Huh...I'm surprised that no one from St. Louis has popped in to mention Beatle Bob (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatle_Bob). I went to college at Washington University in St. Louis, and worked at the radio station (http://www.kwur.com/), so I got to know him pretty well at assorted shows around town. He's a nice guy, but an odd duck. The weirdest part was running into him at South by Southwest (http://2007.sxsw.com/) in Austin, TX. How he managed to make it from St. Louis to Austin with no car and no discernible income, I'll never know.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

My good friend lived accross from the PBS station (gads, no memory- WQED?). One wintery day she was crossing the street, slipped and then heard a melodic voice from behind "are you all my dear?"
Yup, Mr. Rogers.


(Bolding mine) In the above quote I meant to write "are you all right, my dear"


:eek: What a jackass!

[Patrick Bateman]I specifically said "blonde".[/Patrick Bateman]

Am I being wooshed?

[Martha Medea]

Did you ever have a chance to speak to him? By all accounts I've read, he was just the nicest man and very devoted to his wife.

VCNJ~
No, he was a very solitary person, almost a recluse. The closest I got was when I was going into the greengrocers at the end of my street, and he was already on his way out. The staff commented on "what a nice old gent" he was. The other times were as described in my post - he would have tea and scones at the Harbour Street tea rooms most afternoons, and was often seen cycling on the High Street.

[guppy]

I see the guys featured in American Move (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181288/) all of the time. I've been behind Mike Schank at the gas station waiting form him to buy lottery tickets. It was novel for the first minute, but after 5 minutes of him buying lottery tickets the novelty wore off. I've seen Mark Borchard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Borchardt) a few times as well.

There is also the Rythm Chicken (http://www.onmilwaukee.com/ent/articles/rhythmchicken.html). A guy who plays the drums on street corners in a bunny mask. Why it's Rythm Chicken I'm not sure but that sort of adds to the appeal.

[Sunrazor]

I'm the "wing man" on the local radio station morning show -- I get to say "Hi-yooooooo!" and act surprised a lot and make snotty remarks when the show's star (my younger brother) screws up. I AM a local celebrity -- people actually ask us to make appearances and stuff -- pay us for it, too. Of course, we're celebrities in a community of fewer than 20,000 people, but hey, better to be a big frog in a little pond than fishbait, eh?

The most famous guy from Logan County, Colorado, was Ralph Edwards. He grew up in Merino, which is about 20 miles from here.

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly"

[Hostile Dialect]

Heisman Trophy winner (and NFL bust... so to speak) Rashaan Salaam graduated from La Jolla Country Day School.

One of our chief rivals in basketball (La Jolla Country Day, not Rashaan Salaam). (We only ever played about six teams the whole time I was there--very small school, and we weren't in a league until after I graduated.)


Am I being wooshed?

No. "Are you all, my dear?" sounds like something a seedier Mr. Rogers might say to a callgirl he's dissatisfied with. I was jokingly calling Mr. Rogers a jackass for his imaginary insult.

[Argent Towers]

John Mellencamp. He generally keeps a low profile and lives in a house out in the woods by Lake Monroe, but sometimes he can be seen driving his yellow Viper in town or eating at a restaurant with his family.

My mom was at one point friends with his wife Elaine. I have been over to his house a few times and also appeared in the video for Your Life Is Now along with my mom and my sister.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

One of our chief rivals in basketball (La Jolla Country Day, not Rashaan Salaam). (We only ever played about six teams the whole time I was there--very small school, and we weren't in a league until after I graduated.)



No. "Are you all, my dear?" sounds like something a seedier Mr. Rogers might say to a callgirl he's dissatisfied with. I was jokingly calling Mr. Rogers a jackass for his imaginary insult.


OK- now I laugh. hahahah :)

[Hostile Dialect]

I'm going to snicker randomly all week when the image of Mr. Rogers saying (slowly and gently, of course) "Are you all, my dear?" to a disappointingly non-blonde callgirl standing at his doorstep, pops into my head.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

I'm going to snicker randomly all week when the image of Mr. Rogers saying (slowly and gently, of course) "Are you all, my dear?" to a disappointingly non-blonde callgirl standing at his doorstep, pops into my head.


:) Let's try to stay focused out there.

[Nava]

Nobody you'd know, but two of my relatives are local celebrities (writer father and sporty son, thankfully the father writes under a pseudonym so most of the people who are pissed with him don't make the connection). A couple years back a guy from my home town directed his first long movie and won several prizes, which got me a lot of ooohs and aaaahs from people who thought we only made asparagus and artichokes. One of my brother's "pseudobros" (born in the same building in the same year) has published several records and a handful of volumes of poetry; more oooohs and aaahs from the artichoke people.

[China Guy]

Lots of local celebrities here in Shanghai. I pass the elementary school attended by Yao Ming, of Houston Rockets fame, every day on may way to and from work. If we lived across the street, that's where my daughter would be going to school right now.

[BarnOwl]

My wife and I frequently went to the Fife and Drum restaurant in Kent, CT, where the owner would play show tunes on his grand piano. Nice guy and he played well enough to thoroughly charm us. He'd throw in Classical pieces, too (but only when there weren't too many customers).

Between sets, he'd sometimes come to our table to schmooz, and on one occasion, mentioned that Horowitz (and wife) (who had a summer home in Kent), would drop in for dinner, two or three times a month during the summers. As you might expect, Vladimir would compliment the owner's pianism. I liked that and figured it to be pure Horowitz. He was such a gentle soul.

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Just over the line lies Newtown, where an airline pilot murdered his wife, cut her body up into manageable pieces and with a rented wood chipper, pureed them into a lake. However, Mr. Asshole was seen doing the wood chipper bit — in the dead of winter. The cops were able to glean bits and pieces of the wife's body from the chipper and their DNA match helped to clinch the case.

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Marion Anderson was a famous singer who lived in Danbury, CT.

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Just 3 miles from my house, right here in beautiful uptight Brookfield, some teenager hauled out a shotgun and put a hole in his friend's stomach. His defense: The devil made me do it. Honest.

Surprise surprise, it didn't wash.

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Paul Newman lives in Westport.

So did/does Sandy Dennis, the gal who played the dipsomaniacal young lady in the movie Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Remember how she formed a bubble of spit in the drunken scene?

I used to work in that town, but never saw Newman. I did see Ms Dennis in a restaurant there. Like Newman, she had no airs.

Martha Stewart also lives/lived in Newport. I like her and still feel she got a bum rap. I know, lots of folks say she's a bitch.

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Dustin Hoffman has/had a horse farm in Bridgewater .

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James Taylor and Dianne Von Furstenburg live/lived in New Milford.

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Arthur Miller and William Styron (author of Sophie's Choice et al) had homes in Roxbury.

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And I, the most famous of local celebrities. emerged from my owl house in the early hours of November 9th and took off on a celebratory flight throughout the neighborhood, hooting unmercifully while dropping elegant globs of owl shit on all the houses of my Republican neighbors.

Sadly, I was trapped by the town cops, and grounded for ten days.