My second claim to greatness involves the Hollywood starlet Barbara Bates. Again, there is no actual blood tie, but her career was followed intently by our family. Mother's Aunt Helen was divorced by Director Cecil Cohen so he could marry Barbara. For some reason I imagine Bates as the ingenue who stalked Anne Baxter in 'All About Eve" but that could have been Marilyn Monroe. Mother did not keep careful records on this illustrious connection. All I'm saying is people who divorced MY people added luster to our pedestrian existence.

I did not realize how major my third experience with celebrity was until I married a sports fanatic. "Tell me," he would beg, "Tell me how Wilt Chamberlain came to your dorm." I couldn't give enough detail.

I was working at the reception desk when someone asked me to buzz Barbara Golden. I did and her date sat on a wrought iron rail. When Barbara came out he leaned down and greeted her. When he stood he towered over her.
They left. It was the late fifties. If she became one of his 20,000 statistics she probably survived. I used to be able to describe his exact words and what he was wearing. I kept no record of this momentous occasion. A lesson to all persons touched by greatness. Document everything.