Midge Ure: I had some friends in San Diego who had a band called The Seventh, which was new-ro new wave band, very much in keeping with Midge's band at the time, Ultravox. A promoter booked The Seventh to open at SDSU's Backdoor, but when Ultravox got into town, they said "No opening acts." So the promoter gave the band and all the band's friends backstage passes. So after the show, we went backstage and I introduced myself to Midge. He was a very nice guy and we talked about books for about 10 minutes.

Randy Jones: To talk about meeting Randy Jones these days, for a Padres fan, really doesn't mean as much as it once did — like when he was winning 20 games a year and taking home a Cy Young Award, but when I was 15, meeting Randy Jones was a big deal. Today, Jones runs a BBQ stand inside of San Diego Stadium. It's damn good BBQ and he's usually mingling with the crowd. I met Jones as part of a birthday gift from my parents. The PBS station in San Diego had a fund raising auction and my parents bid on and own a package that allowed us to go in the Padres clubhouse before a game (in this case, June 19, 1976), in the dugout and on the field during batting practice. Jones was in the clubhouse when we arrived. He had a pile of baseballs in front of him and he was autographing them. He signed one for me and (it already had all of the other players signatures on it) and gave it to me. We talked for a while, but I was in awe. At that moment, Jones was the greatest pitcher to ever wear a Padres uniform. We then went out onto the field where I shook met Johnny Grubb (also a favorite, and he had a firm handshake), Bobby Tolin (STRONG handshake), and Mike Ivie (limp, slimy handshake) — guess which of these three was the better hitter? And number #2? And the worst? Coincidence? I think not.

I'm excluding from this post famous (or well known) people I've met through journalism, since that's sort of cheating ... it's just too easy when your a reporter to meet well known people. Besides, if I did that, the list would be very long with politicians (Duncan Hunter, Willie Brown, Steve Baldwin, Tom Connolly, Jay La Suer, Jim Bates — though Bates would be an interesting story to tell some time, if I could get away with telling the whole truth).