When I was 15 years old, I served Marie Osmond an ice cream cone, and recall her seeming so much prettier in person; and later that summer had to serve Jim Nabors lunch. I couldn’t look at him as I was afraid I’d burst out in uncontrollable laughter. A bit more obscure, I served Tom Rush, a favorite folksinger.
When I was 18, I drove to Marlboro College for an interview, and stopped to ask an elderly man the directions to a building. He obligingly explained how to get where I needed to go, and as I drove away I realized I’d just been speaking to Rudolph Serkin, one of the great pianists of the time.