I’m making a bit of a twist on the “Who is the most famous person you’ve met?” question. Assuming that you are not famous yourself, who is the most famous person who would know your name? Put another way, who might say “Yeah, Drum God, I know that guy. We hung out together in college.” or some such. Of course, don’t reveal your real-world name here unless you really want to do so.
For me, the most famous person who would likely recognize my real name today is Carole Keeton Strayhorn, former Comptroller for the State of Texas and Independent candidate for Governor. She and my dad worked on a few projects together when she was mayor of Austin during my childhood.
And, just for completeness, the most famous people I have actually met and had conversations with would be NFL Hall of Famer Earl Campbell and politician Beto O’Rourke. I doubt either would immediately recognize my name, but Campbell may remember the circumstances of our meeting.
Probably Frank Wilczek. His wife used to organize softball games and pizza parties that i attended. I have a softball signed by both a Nobel prize winner and a Fields medalist.
It’s possible that Will Shortz would remember me. We both often attend the same puzzle event, and we’ve been at the same table for dinner, and chatted several times. And I’m one of the few women at the event, so people tend to remember me.
I met, and briefly chatted with Deval Patrick shortly before he became governor of Massachusetts, but I’d be shocked if he remembered me.
Oh, and for “i was close to this guy”… When Ronald Reagan was running for president he and a bunch of other Republicans were at an event locally, and i attended. I got there really early and got a seat on the aisle. As Reagan walked back from speaking, he walked by me, and shook hands with the little old lady who sat next to me. She’d been a fan of him from his acting days, and was really excited. I tried to shrink back, and not be in their way. After he left, she turned to me and said, “you don’t seem very enthusiastic”.
Dave Chappelle and Patton Oswalt, from when they worked out of comedy clubs in DC. Oswalt was based in Baltimore, but would come down. I’m still friends with someone who stayed in touch with them.
Well, my states former Sec’y of State and I lived in the same dorm, but she’s been out of office for a while. So, formerly famous at a state level but she’d probably recognize my name, if for no other reason than that I have an extremely uncommon first name.
Crispin Glover and I were pretty good friends from the ages of 14 to 17. We lost touch when I went to college and his acting career started to take off.
Maybe a former governor of one of the United States.
When I was young he lived across the street. I was too young to remember him, but he might remember me as the little brat that lived across the street.
Rodney Dangerfield wrote to me telling me he got a kick out of a humorous website I created back in the 90s. We corresponded back and forth a few times via email (he was a great guy). He wouldn’t know my face, but he would probably have remembered my name (and website)…before he died.
I was a stage hand (summer job, mid 70s) in Philadelphia and helped set up David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs show at the Spectrum. My BIL (the head stage hand) and I talked quite a bit with Bowie during setup breaks. Great guy. He wrote me a nice note which I still have somewhere. He may have remembered me…before he died.
I also set up for Chubby Checker (the Twist guy) for a show in Philly. He heard me playing piano during a break and asked me to play in his band for that night’s performance (his keyboardist broke his arm the day before). It didn’t happen, but he may have remembered me…before he died.
My Mom knew Jack Klugman quite well. He was a client at my mother’s company, and he wanted her to come work for him in some new business venture he was involved in. He took her to lunch a couple times and they got along very well, but Mom decided to stay where she was. I’m sure he would have remembered her…before he died.
Mom also met Burt Reynolds at a book signing. She tripped and fell hard on the floor when he called her up to sign his book. He ran over, picked Mom up and gave her a big hug and kiss. Then, they chatted a while. Maybe he would have remembered her…before he died.
Would I get to remind them of circumstances, or is it a pure name drop? If the latter, fabulously wealthy racist puppeteer Jeff Dunham possibly would, because we were in the same circles for a while. Otherwise, for someone like (say) Jamie Dimon, you’d have to remind them of the occasions.
I was a student in an astronomy class taught by 2011 Nobel Prize winner Adam Riess, and we had a couple chats on that topic inside the classroom. Back in my school days, he’d certainly know me, but now … most likely not.
I was in a short-lived band with Will Johnston when I was young, and we knew each other before and afterward. Last time we met, he still remembered me.
No one particularly or widely famous. After thinking about this for a few minutes, I came up with:
A singer/songwriter who had a couple of hits 20 years ago. I’m in one of her music videos, have traded snail-mails with her several times, and I interact with her a lot on her Facebook page.
A guy with whom I went to high school, who held a couple of senior governmental positions in Wisconsin politics, and is now in leadership for the University of Wisconsin.
Several game designers, who are fairly well-known within the gaming community for their RPG and board game designs, but likely aren’t known, in the slightest, outside of the gaming community.
I don’t know anyone myself, but my father did. He was at school with Dylan Thomas, albeit in different years. At University he lived in a boarding house with Kingsley Amis. I have inherited a signed copy of a first edition of Amis’ first published work Bright November.
Probably some MLB players - Taijuan Walker, Matt Teahen, Matt Davidson, Corky Miller, a few others. They all graduated from the school I teach at. Even if I didn’t have them as a student, they know who I am.
In 1995 my boss, Martin Perl, won the Nobel Prize in Physics. I remember our conversation quite well:
Me: Congratulations, Martin.
Him: Thank you, Karen.
Me: Are you still going to Ithaca next week?
Him: I’m looking forward to it.
Alas, he passed away a few years back, so he doesn’t “know” me anymore.
Among people who I’m sure would recognize me if they saw me, I think the best I can do is either a member of the Cleveland city council (she’s a neighbor of my mom), or an astronaut (he was a professor at my grad school).
Among people whom I’ve met and had a conversation with, probably folk singer Tommy Makem (deceased), or former Representative Dennis Kucinich. But both would be much more likely to remember my mom than me. Also conceivable would be Nobel laureate Kip Thorne-- I’ve been to a couple of parties at his house, but there were a lot of folks at those parties.