Sunday, July 20, 2014

So Long, Mr. Garner, and Thanks for the Autograph

I awoke this morning to find out that James Garner had died. You can find out pretty much all you want about him anywhere on the web. Here's what I remember:

I was a kid in the early 60s, and my Dad had somehow gotten tickets to the Indianapolis 500. While walking around near the fence that bordered the pit area, I saw a guy in a white racing suit standing there, signing autographs. I got into the small crowd gathered there; I thought it would be cool to have one of the drivers' autograph.

As I got close, I could see the man was turning away to leave. But when I held up my ticket stub, he turned back, came over to where I was standing, and signed the back of my ticket. I realized then that the man was James Garner. He was there promoting his new movie, Grand Prix.

I still have that ticket stub. It's signed in green ink. Thank you, Mr. Garner, from that little kid.

2 comments:

Heidi said...

A special memory like that is such a gift.

Grumpy, M.D. said...

He was a damn fine actor. My grandmother, and now my mom, and my wife, are Rockford Files rerun junkies.