Elvis and John and me.

I want to put something about my previous post here in perspective. In my descriptions of seeing Elvis and John Wayne, it seems I have given the impression of 'socialising' with them in some way, but not quite so! With Elvis, we saw him in concert and when he walked past us, he was close enough for us to reach out and touch, but we didn't DARE!! Not with all those security people around!

By 'us' I refer to my first husband Wayne. We visited the USA three times, and on on one of those trips, we were staying in Seattle. When we arrived, we passed a theatre with huge signs advertising the world premiere of "True Grit" and that John Wayne would be there in person that night. I said to Wayne "Once we have booked into our hotel for the night, let's come back here and try to catch a glimpse of John Wayne". He scoffed at the idea, saying "don't be stupid, there will be a million people there. You'd never get anywhere near him". So, while Wayne stayed at the hotel and watched t.v., I walked back to the theatre, camera in hand. Yes, there were a lot of people, but me being smaller than the average American, I was able to squeeze my way to the front of the row of people lining the street. Several limos. cruised up and came to a stop, and somebody stepped out of the car nearest me. It was HIM! I couldn't believe my luck, especially when he looked at me and grinned, shook my hand and said "Thank you for coming here". Then everyone was crowding around, so I took my photo, and headed back to the hotel. Wayne was spitting chips when I told him about it, and only half-believed me anyway. It wasn't until we got back home to Australia and I had the slides developed, that he saw how close I got. And then he was doubly cheesed off! He and his brother were named after J.W. - their Mum was a great fan of his, and when her first son was born, she named him John. Then when the second son arrived, of course he was called Wayne!