How I Met Robin Williams. Id been a fan since the 70s, watching him nanu-nau his way through first a Happy Days episode, then in his own show. Manic, funny, hyper, what a guy! Fast forward to 1987, when Good Morning, Viet Nam came out. My dad was in the Air Force around the same time as Adrian Cronauer, but in Japan. Dad was a big fan too. Years went by. Good Will Hunting, Toys, Jack, Hook, The Fisher King, Moscow on the Hudson, making a new generation laugh and cry. 2004. Took on an assignment in college to cover the Clinton Library opening in Little Rock. Me and Abbie Caldwell Kent met in town, then walked an interminable distance through the cold mist to get to the library, only to be told we couldnt go in because GWB was speaking and the Secret Service had locked down the area. Mary Marsh Elliff had joined us by this time, and since they were cold, the Army guys let them sit in a nearby Hummer to warm up. I had the camera out, taking some video, and when I turned the camera towards the uniformed Secret Service agents, I nearly got ejected from the premises. Finally, W left, and we were allowed in. Turned out, Abbies ex boyfriend was the Soldier holding the umbrella for Hillary Clinton, and had bonked her on accident. We wandered around, saying hello to such folks as George Stephanopolous, Morgan Freeman (who gave Abbie grief over her open-toed shoes), Judge Reinhold, and more. We saw Bono, John Kerry (who is 9 feet tall if hes an inch), Madeline Albright, Bill and Hillary (I even got her to pose for a picture later with Abbie and Mary), and others I have forgotten about. The dignitaries were in a large white tent we were not allowed near. Suddenly, this man, wearing a camouflage jacket, ambled across the marshy grass to talk to someone. Something about him was familiar, the way he walked. I couldnt hear what he said, but the Soldiers he had approached were laughing. He eventually made his way towards us, and to my utter shock I saw it was Robin Williams. All day long, the three of us were talking about how to approach someone for a photograph. We would say Hey, here comes so and so...ask them! and would chicken out. Not this time. As he walked past, I politely caught his attention, and asked him if he would mind having his picture taken with me. His exact words were, Oh, sure, Id love to. He threw his arm around my shoulder and Abbie snapped the picture on her phone. She asked him if she could have one and he obliged. When we were finished, he shook our hands and I thanked him for his time. Eventually we made our way inside, and I spoke to Bill again and shook his hand (he had come to the University a year or so before to make a speech and I met him there). I pulled out a keychain my friend Natalia Pizarro had given me, from Colombia, and showed it to him, telling him where I got it and the story Natalia had told me of her meeting him before. He smiled and said he remembered it, vaguely, but it struck a bell. After dinner at On the Border that evening, I drove home, listening to the Good Morning, Viet Nam soundtrack, called my dad and told him, knowing hed be jealous, and smiled the whole way home. I will never forget that day, and the fact that Robin Williams took time away from whatever mania he was inducing on the local populace before he left to make the three of us happy. Thanks for the memories. Now, my eyes are leaking. Mork and Mindy fans will get that.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 01:48:09 +0000
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