This week: Meeting Your Heroes Edited by: Kit  
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It's said that you should never meet your heroes. That may not always be true. Some of them are perfectly pleasant!
Have you ever met one of your heroes, or someone you greatly admire? How did it go?
This week's Drama Newsletter is all about those special encounters.
Kit |
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Have you ever met one of your heroes? Or, someone you’ve admired – who’s truly inspired you – outside your circle of family and friends? I don’t think I had a hero when I was a child, but I have been fortunate enough to meet some really great people.
The saying “never meet your heroes” hasn’t applied to me. It is a good warning, because it can be difficult, if not impossible, to live up to people’s expectations. That’s especially the case when you’re a celebrity – fans create versions of you in their minds and when you’re not what they’ve built you up to be that can lead to disappointment. The first celebrities I met, however, were popular Dutch children’s entertainers Bassie and Adriaan. It’s difficult to describe the cultural impact of these artists. They had their own TV show, their own albums, and even their own circus. To a child, they were pure magic! When I met them after a performance they were very nice to shy little me. They’d no doubt had many years of practice in how to get along with their young fans. The encounter left a good enough impression that I remained a solid fan until I aged out of their content. When my sister came along, I was pleased that she enjoyed their work, too!
Sometimes, it’s a case of ‘never meet your fans (or their kids)’. Dutch singer Lee Towers was unfortunate enough to hold a show near where we lived. My mother and my gran were far more enthusiastic about this than I was – I wasn’t exactly his target audience. We saw him have a chat with some of the organisers before the show and my mom sent me over to get his autograph, no doubt thinking that he’d be more likely to say ‘yes’ to a kid. She had underestimated my social awkwardness. She had also failed to give me anything for him to actually sign, so once the man had navigated my clumsy attempt at casual conversation, and we actually got around to the desired outcome of the meeting, I had to dig around in my coat pocket for something – anything – and all I could hand him was a crumpled old gas station receipt. I shall never forget the look in his eyes. It was a mixture of bafflement and disbelief. He was a gentleman, though. I’ll give him that. He signed that receipt, and I dashed off to my mom, mission completed. I wonder if she still has it.
Anyone who’s ever met me knows that for many decades now I have been a big fan of the band Guns N’ Roses, and especially of their lead singer, Axl Rose. His voice is captivating, and his stage presence is quite simply magnetic. I’ve met him once, at a concert, and he was much kinder than the media portrayed him at that time. It was the 90s, and they were considered to be ‘the most dangerous band in the world’. Perhaps they were. No rock band was angelic, nor did anyone expect them to be. All that I can say is that he was nice to me, and that meant a lot to my teenage rock chick heart.
As many people do, I grew out of the more intense stages of fandom when I reached my twenties. As you grow up, I guess you begin to find your place in the world, and you rely less on others to shape your identity. That didn’t mean that there weren’t people I admired. I still loved Guns N’ Roses, for example, and I was pretty hooked on Formula 1. My favourite driver was Mika Häkkinen, and I met him at a car event. Very nice person, great sense of humour. I was pleased to bring home a signed picture, which I framed as it was a cool memento of that meeting. It was stolen some years later, along with my comic book collection, my Magic: the Gathering cards and some other treasured items, like my signed Lord of the Rings movie poster. I never did get back into collecting comic books, nor Magic: the Gathering cards. It was too heart-breaking to even try to rebuild my collections. And that movie poster was never going to happen. A couple of years ago, though, when I got back into Formula 1 after a break, I happened to get in touch with Mika Häkkinen (now a presenter) and he was sweet enough to send me a signed photograph. He didn’t have to. What happened was hardly his fault. It did make me smile, and you bet that I’ve framed it!
Another treasured encounter was with my favourite author, Sir Terry Pratchett. His work helped me through some of my darkest times. One night especially I had a very bad reaction to some new medication and I don’t know what I’d have done if it hadn’t been for the book I was reading – Monstrous Regiment . Even through the pain and the tears he made me smile, and occasionally even giggle, and that’s talent! He and I ended up emailing for a bit and as no doubt many others have done before me, and after me, I told him how much his work meant to me. He told me that that meant something to him and went on to talk about a diagnosis he just received. Pratchett was diagnosed with a rare form of young-onset Alzheimer's disease, and along with being a brilliant writer he would go on to be a vocal advocate for dementia research and assisted dying. You can find his documentary on YouTube – Choosing to Die . It is not an easy subject, but one of those discussions in life that may need to be had. It’s as open and honest as those words I have been honoured to exchange with him before he became unable to type. I will always respect Sir Terry Pratchett, and I will always cherish his work.
These days it can feel like all of our favourite artists, and athletes, and pretty much everyone we may admire is deeply flawed, and unworthy of admiration. Whilst I am sure that they do have their flaws, as all of us do, there are thankfully people out there who are kind, and caring, and who are willing to give us some lovely moments to look back at when we need them the most.
I am very fortunate in my encounters. Lee Towers, not so much. Sorry, Mr. Towers. I hope, though, that whoever you are, and whoever you meet in life, you will be given many smiles to help you along the way. Perhaps you can give some of your own, too. You may make a lasting impact.
Kit
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Drama: April 02, 2025 Issue [#13058]
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