Monday, November 2, 2009

Friendly Encounters

This is another in a series of meetings of my friends and celebs.

I have previously written about my pal Jake and his burgeoning interest in meeting stars and getting autographs. It is pretty cool to see the excitement in his eyes.
Unfortunately, I was out of town when his mom took him to see Roddy Piper at a PCW event in Oaklawn (IL). With Laurie, I had the surrealistic pleasure of meeting Piper for the first time. I would have loved to see Jake and Laurie with Piper. Instead, they made sure I got a picture and the story.
Laurie noticed something the first time we met Piper. He seems to come alive around children. It is an interesting transformation.
When Jake met Piper, Piper started to recite a bit of Rudyard Kipling. Imagine that. As I wrote before, Piper is very dedicated to literacy (stemming from his own troubles). As evidenced here, he is also dedicated to the youth.
I am glad Jake got the opportunity to meet Piper and to see this side of him. Wrestlers sometimes get a bad rap. Piper is one of a kind. Then again, so is Jake.
Rowdy Roddy Piper and Jake in Oaklawn, IL-June 2009.

2 comments:

LD said...

Oh man, it was surreal. Jake thought it was cool -- cause Piper is in his wrestling game. Piper's eyes did light up whenever he saw a kid; he made sure to bend down and connect at eye level. When he found out that Jake eats books for breakfast - he was genuinely impressed and began reciting many stanzas of "If" which was very surreal. He has issues to be sure, but I dig Piper.

Johngy said...

It's too bad that Jake didn't see Piper in his prime. When Jake gets a bit older, we need to show him some video of the Rowdy One.