Hi, all, First, my apologies for having what we call in my family call a "brain fart" and assuming that the picture of the cat I sent yesterday would get posted. It had the caption of something like "While the Mom's away" and I pondered whether Joni knew what her cats were up to while she was on tour, or some such. Anyone who'd like to see the cat picture, e-mail off list, and I'll happily send it to you.
Close brushes: (1)Got to talk with Dionne Warwick for about five minutes or so by virtue of the fact that I was first in line for an album signing at a K-Mart in Warwick, RI (my home town); this was back in the '70's sometime. She had a cold and apologized to me for having been advise by her doctor not to talk much if she wanted to sing that night. She was pleased that I had both her current album (Just Being Myself, which would put this around '72) and her first album from '62. (2) Got to very briefly meet and shake hands with Muhammed Ali; I lived two blocks away from him in Chicago in '78-'79. (3) Briefly met Joan Rivers in '77 when she gave a talk at University of Chicago -- really it was a promotion of her funny but flawed "Rabbit Test" movie. (4) Just a few weeks ago, I got to see Rita Moreno perform (from the first row -- she was six feet away!). At nearly seventy, she looks great and is still in fine voice. She shook everyone's hand after the show, signed copies of her new (and apparently first!) and I got to talk with her son-in-law for about five minutes as well. What a lovely lady. Walt
