Now, I don’t have a lot of heroes other than my dad. But I’ve met people I’ve admired — dancer Fred Astaire, astronaut Pete Conrad (the third person to walk on the moon), writer-editor Stan Lee (I had lunch with him, and he offered helpful advice to this then-new comics editor), and cartoonists Charles Schulz, Carl Barks, and Jack Kirby. Each one was friendly and gracious.
I didn’t speak with them long, so I won’t claim to know them well. Maybe I’d despise them if I knew them better. Sure, they were nice to me — but anyone can be nice for a few minutes.
But not everyone is. I met Batman co-creator Bob Kane (not one of my heroes, but I still wanted to meet him), and he showed no interest in being kind, warm, or even polite.
Have you met your heroes, and how did it go?