Rearview Mirror: Readers relate their brush with fame in meeting VIPs

Recently, I wrote about locals who crossed paths with Paul McCartney, Elvis Presley, James MacArthur and Helen Hayes. Several readers wrote to tell me about their star-crossed experiences.

Troy Donahue

Joseph Coconate wrote: “Growing up on Kauai, I was lucky to witness several famous movies being filmed on the island. Sometime during the 1960s I was at Lydgate beach park in Wailua to watch the filming of the TV show ‘Hawaiian Eye’ with Troy Donahue.

“While I didn’t actually see him in action, I did spot him sitting below a coconut tree. He was alone and looking bored, probably between takes.

“I walked up to him just to be friendly, and he turned out to be very personable. I think he assumed I wanted his autograph, which was not my intention.

“During those days we kids usually wore something around our necks. Mine was a wooden tiki about 3 inches long, hanging from a thin leather strap. He asked if I wanted him to autograph my tiki. Sure, I said.

“He pulled out a small knife, and I handed my tiki over to him. He asked if I could return in an hour. No problem.

“An hour later he was nowhere to be found, no longer sitting under the coconut tree. There goes my prized tiki, I thought.

“While standing around, watching the filming, a stranger came up and handed me my tiki, saying Troy asked him to return it to me.

“I flipped it over to the backside. And there it was: In beautiful carving was his full name. Wow, I thought, something to treasure and brag about.

“Do I still have it, you may be wondering? Unfortunately, no. Like my Elvis autograph, a youngster will somehow manage to lose things — even the prized ones.”

Omar Bradley’s knee

Peggy Aurand said her celebrity sighting was prearranged by her grandfather Lt. Gen. Henry S. Aurand while he was commanding general, U.S. Army Pacific.

“It was January 1950. I was 7 years old and visited him at Fort Shafter with my family in his grand old quarters at No. 5 Palm Circle.

“After dinner one night, he said, ‘Now, Peggy, I want you at my office at 10 a.m. sharp tomorrow, in your best dress, with your pigtails neatly done.’ I had no idea what was going to happen.

“I appeared, as ordered, chatting with his secretary, and soon the door to the inner sanctum opened. Grandpa leaned out and motioned me into his office.

“In a chair to my right sat a man in an Army uniform covered with brass. He had white hair and bushy, black eyebrows. Grandpa said, ‘Peggy, I would like you to meet General Omar Bradley.’

“How do you do, sir? I said, and General Bradley picked me up and sat me on his knee, while he and Grandpa discussed what they were going to do in Korea.”

Lyndon Johnson and Muhammad Ali

Gloria Young said, “Back in the 1960s, President Johnson came to Hawaii and, for some reason, visited Aiea.

“Maybe he went to Pearl Harbor or something, but I remember that it was in the middle of the day and we high schoolers were let out of Aiea High so we could watch the parade of cars.

“Well, much to our surprise, his car stopped, and he got out to shake hands with some of the people who were gathered along the road. We weren’t very close, but I remember LBJ as a very tall, very red-faced man stepping out to greet the crowd.

“Celebrity sighting No. 2: In the 1970s I visited one of my best friends, who was working on her Ph.D. at the University of Hawaii. She needed to go to the East-West Center.

“As we were walking, we saw a large group of people gathered at the front door of the Kennedy Theater. At the center of the crowd, where everyone was facing, was a very tall person.

“We decided to cross the street to see what all the commotion was about. It was boxer Muhammed Ali! So, we got in line and got to shake his hand! He had a very large, warm and rough hand.”

Tom Landry

Mac McMorrow said, “In the old days the Pro Bowl players would stay in Waikiki at the Hilton Hawaiian Village or the Ilikai hotel.

“The players would hang out at the pools, and it was a great place for kids to get their autographs. I took my son down one afternoon, and he got over a dozen autographs.

“We didn’t always know who the players were, but I remember Ed Jones signed his name ‘Too Tall’ so we knew it was him. The players were always gracious about signing.

“We then walked over to the Ilikai, and as we were coming down the elevator, the car stops and in comes Tom Landry, the Dallas Cowboys coach.

“He was my mother’s favorite football person. I told him that, and as he left he said in a congenial way, ‘Yes, the older ladies seem to like me these days.’”

Heartbreak Hotel

Ron Augustine said he was skiing at Lake Tahoe one winter. “I was invited to a party that turned out to be mostly people in the L.A. music scene, hosted by Hoyt Axton, a songwriter, singer and keyboarder.

“At one point I found myself sitting on a couch next to a woman who was chatting to a guy and kept referring to a book she was holding, calling it ‘my book.’

“The title was ‘Country Artists as I Know Them,’ by Mae Axton (Hoyt’s mother). She showed me the cover of the book, with photos of Elvis, Eddie Arnold and a few other celebs.

“I asked, ‘You knew all those people?’

“I sure did, Sonny. I was instrumental in all of their careers. I have 92 published songs to my name!”

“Of course, I had to ask, ‘Any that I might have heard of?’

“Well, I don’t know, Sonny, you ever heard of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’?”

“She told me she was having a hard time writing it, in 1955, so she took it to Elvis. He wasn’t well known yet and was just becoming popular locally. He made suggestions for a couple of word changes.

“She said, ‘He was such a nice man and he didn’t have any money, so I gave him a writer’s credit. On the rec­ord the credit is Axton- Durden-Presley.’

“I said, ‘it seems like that writer’s credit worked out pretty well for him.’

“She said ‘It sure did, sonny.’ It turned out to be Elvis’ first big hit, in 1956, and brought him international recognition.

”She went on to tell me where the title came from and how she took it to Nashville’s biggest songwriter (Tommy Durden) asking for help. He told her she was crazy writing a song about a guy committing suicide in a hotel. She said, ‘Well, that’s not really what it’s about.’

“He wouldn’t talk to her for a very long time after that, but he called her and apologized when the song passed 2 million in sales, saying, ‘Mae, it’s a damn good thing you didn’t listen to me that day you came over to my house asking for help!’”

In 2004 the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame named it as one of “500 Songs That Shaped Rock & Roll.”

Did you cross paths with a celebrity? If so, drop me a line.

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Bob Sigall is the author of the five “Companies We Keep” books. Send your comments and suggestions to Sigall@Yahoo.com.