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Waititi: Meeting Taiki Waititi made for a most delicious afternoon. And he took so much care and time in what he doodled on my DVD cover. He's a gem and a gent and a creator of wonderfully quirky motion pictures. Would very much love to work with him someday.
Sedaris: A wickedly funny man. He said the red stamp meant "cancelled" in Thai. When asked if I could be his personal assistant, he replied, "What am I going to do? Tell you to go into the other room and write my next chapter for me?"
Gould: Ah, the original Trapper John. I thought he was so hot with that 'stache! Love him in everything. He was kind enough to spend time with some of us 48-hour filmmakers during one of my guerrilla film festival screening weekends.
Bogosian: The brilliant creator of Talk Radio. Always powerful and fantastic in person (I've also seen him perform several times at Bumbershoot). And such pretty and intense eyes, which seem to stare right through you at book signings.
Mitchell: Pure genius. What a thrill to meet him. I wore my foam Hed head with all of the other freaks. I still listen to the soundtrack frequently. This story and its music haunt me.
Keillor: He told me I have a Scandinavian name and kindly laughed at my knock-knock joke. He was so interested in having a conversation with a total stranger (probably why his show and stories are so rich and enjoyable). He is very tall and his stature imposing. And that voice!
Armbruster: My multi-talented, sweet musician friend, Kurt, wrote this wonderful book. Buy it! He published a second book called Before Seattle Rocked: A City and Its Music, so, all of my musician friends, buy that one, too. And he published a third book, which will interest all of my actor friends in Seattle and Canada; it is called Playing for Change: Burton and Florence James and the Seattle Repertory Playhouse.
Hamilton: I figure skated competitively for 8 years as a kid. And my childhood skating hero, Scottie Hamilton, signed my tattered, old skate when I saw him in Vegas. I couldn't believe my luck when I found out he was speaking at a conference I was attending. A true dream come true to meet him.
Rule: Brave. What else can you say about a woman who is an expert on serial killers?! If you are ever visiting Seattle with me, I'll take you on a Ted Tour since I, unfortunately, lived in Bundyville for a long while. Most tragically, my bedroom window looked over into the alley where Georgann Hawkins vanished at his hands in 1974. It still disturbs me that she signed my book, and we were talking about obsession, revenge, and murder on Valentine's Day. Yeah.
Schlosser: Horrifying. You'll never eat fast food (or anything which previously had a face) again. Among other things, this book truly did change my feelings about meat.
Toobin: Jeffrey Toobin is a CNN legal analyst and a staff writer for The New Yorker. He sent me these letters and a copy of his new O.J. Simpson book in 1998 after I, very unexpectedly, exposed a UW law professor plagiarizing his work about President Clinton's impeachment. If you could have only heard me on the phone with him while he was in his office at the magazine. I'm sure he thought I was a kook - until he saw the proof!
2016 UPDATE: In a very strange twist of fate, this book, The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, is now the basis for one of Ryan Murphy's new TV shows on FX, and Toobin is the creative consultant. Crazy.
Acuff: My brother and I met ol' Roy in his garden, which was next to his house, which was in the middle of Opryland Theme Park, which was down the pathway from the Grand Ole Opry (not the Ryman). Sadly, Opryland Theme Park was demolished and is now the site of a shopping mall. How I loved the free-fall of the Wabash Cannonball corkscrew coaster.
Arngrim: A few encounters with this childhood favorite of mine, one of which I was dressed like Nellie, curls and all, and my friend was dressed like Laura. Regarding the first time she met us: All ll I can say is she was warned we were in the building! And she subsequently referred to us as "The Bonnet Girls."