A Close Encounter

One of my very favorite bloggers is John Gray with his blog Going Gently. A few days or weeks back he talked of a quick encounter with a celebrity and asked about others encounters. I thought I'd share a few of my memories.

Dub Taylor

My dad was in the motion picture industry. Early on, he did stunts, later he drove and operated the generator truck the powered up locations spots. Being that we were a big family we did not always go with him when he traveled but there were a few times. He worked on a movie called Nashville (he worked quite a few Robert Altman movies), where I mostly remember the biggest mosquitoes I'd ever seen. I saw the stars but really didn't know who they were. There was a movie called Junior Bonner that was filmed in Prescott Arizona, I have wonderful memories of that time. We stayed on what was then Prescott College campus, ate in the school cafeteria where I was first introduced to self serve sodas (a novel idea at the time) and rode the campus horses whenever we desired. Daily thunderstorms with lightening would roll in and I can still smell the musty warm steam that came up off the ground. We all worked and got paid as extras on that one. I developed a fondness of an actor named Dub Taylor there. You may not know his name but you would know his face if you are of "a certain age". When ever the music from that particular period of my life comes on, I have a warm sense of ease and happiness. I named my second son Prescott♥

This is about how I remember them.

He also did The Getaway (I think that was in El Paso, Texas) about the same time. It was there that we rode motorcycles with Steve McQueen, his daughter Terry and son Chad. I'd say fun times (Chad was pretty cute) but I really didn't like it all that much. I loved riding motorcycles but I had to beg and borrow others because my dad purchased bikes for my bros but not for any of us girls. It was always dirty, usually windy, too hot or too cold, and often times, a bush was a bathroom. I don't miss it much.

downtown Kalispell

The last movie location that I visited was in Kalispell Montana. The movie was Michael Cimino's great big flop Heavens Gate. I remember seeing Kris Kristofferson and Jeff Bridges but I must admit that the mistreatment of animals on that particular set was heartbreaking. I stayed away and focused on the location. Montana is a lovely place and Kalispell (or its surroundings) were fantastic.

That's about it....after that I did not see or talk to my dad for many years......another story.