For those of you in IT, i thought of a few more.
I’m close to Guy Steele, as in, i chat with him pretty regularly.
I’m friendly with Bram Cohen. He certainly knows me.
And I’ve hung out with Donald Knuth , who once asked me for permission to use a puzzle i designed in a book, and probably would recognize my name.
I’ve sufficiently pissed off prominent antivaxers (including Jenny McCarthy’s pediatrician Jay Gordon) enough for them to know me.
A former co-worker is now a 2nd term US Rep from MA.
A local State Senator knows me (but doesn’t like me) through marriage.
A lot of the “famous” people who knew me have died, and were only famous within the physics and optics community. Of these, Arthur Kantrowitz (founder of Avco Everett Research Lab, member of the Citizens Space Committee and the L-05 Society) was probably the best known.
Of folks still alive, I could name two of the winners of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. Gerard Mourou had an office only a few doors down from mine. (I used to pass it and think, a la H.G. Wells’ Dr. Moureau, “it’s the Office of Dr. Mourou!”). I was also on committees at the OSA (now Optica) with co-winner Donna Strickland.
I think they’d remember me. It’s been a while, especially since I last spoke with Mourou.
The most famous people that know me are not all that famous. A few captains of industry that aren’t well known by the public certainly remember me. In one case that would be someone whose life has been presented in fiction but would not be well recognized by his actual name. All of them know a bunch of big time famous people, but for some reason didn’t bother to introduce me to them.
I went to a small religious school for high school. It was co-ed, but homosexuality was not allowed, and three female friends and I liked to push the envelope in the hallways. I don’t remember what exactly we did, but I don’t know if I’d even been kissed yet so I’m sure it was very innocent stuff like hugging or grabbing each other’s butts.
Years later, I received a friend request from a fashion model. I didn’t immediately recognize the heavily made up face, but after clicking through and looking at her profile I discovered that one of those female friends had become a pretty successful fashion model – she even made the cover of Elle magazine! I don’t want to say her name because it’s a kind of embarrassing memory for me and probably for her, too.
I was friends with Paul Rudd in 1st and 2nd grade until his family moved away. He mentioned me by name in an online print interview he did about 14 years ago.
Oh hey, I knew an optics guy, Jeff Kimble. He won’t remember me, however, and if he did, it would only be with horror.
I was coming up zeroes on this until I remembered that I do know a few media types, the most famous of which is probably Jon Fortt, anchor of a show on CNBC. We’re not buds, but he knows me from around town and our wives are friendly.
I’m sure I can say the same about myself.
Don’t know Jeff Kimble, though.
My brother is friends with Hank Williams Jr.
I’ve met him, twice. I think. He might would remember me.
He hit on my baby sister. (She was of age, but way too young for him)
Met Bill Clinton many times but he wouldn’t know me.
Kathleen David, puppeteer/puppetmaker and wife of Peter David.
A fairly well-known actor, one of the stars of The Love Boat, was a student in my father-in-law’s high school drama class. He credits my FIL with encouraging him to pursue an acting career, and they remained friends until my FIL died a couple of years ago. I’ve taken several vacations with the actor. It’s … interesting traveling with someone who is frequently recognized and approached by strangers.
I have a relative who was a chief legal officer at a couple of well-known corporations. We aren’t close,
but do keep in touch.
It’s just possible that Todd Martin, who was a top ten tennis player in the 1990s, would recognize me. We were at university together and lived in the same dorm.
I have a niece who is a niche actress (for want of a better description) who has been in a variety of non-blockbuster, but popular, movies and TV series.
Former Labor Secretary and DNC Chair Tom Perez knows me because our kids went to school together. We also live near each other, so I see him grocery shopping sometimes. My MIL is a writer of romantic suspense, so people who read that genre may know who she is.
I graduated High School with someone who went on to be a Hugo and Nebula award winner. We weren’t particularly close, but I think he’d remember me…
Tough one. Some people here would know who Howard Levy is – he played with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, among many other projects. He was a regular at the cafe I worked at in college and he even emailed me several times after I graduated (that is, not as a reply to an email of mine or anything – just out of the blue.)
I also know the editor-in-chief of the print edition of the New York Post. We worked for the same paper abroad for like a year or so, and he was my editor-in-chief for a year in college at the paper. He’s actually a really fun and funny guy, and I didn’t know him at all to be conservative, so I’m not sure what happened. Last we spoke was a few years ago and I didn’t bother with trying to catch up on that. That said, he’s not a household name, so I’m not sure if I’d call him famous.
Good job on only thinking it. For sure if you told him that joke, he’d remember you as “the one guy that made that joke that one time”.