henry winkler

So I ran into The Fonz today in the St. Louis airport. It was a bit surreal. I was traveling to San Diego for a conference; he was on his way home to L.A. from a speech at a local school.

Henry is currently writing children's books and making appearances when possible. He recently finished a stage role as Captain Hook in London.

He's shorter than I expected, and he seemed a bit travel-weary, but he was pleasant and seemed happy to talk to a few of us while we waited in the security line (before he realized he could jump the line as a first class passenger, let alone the fact that he's Arthur Fonzarelli).

During our short conversation another "fan" approached, pledging his devotion to Mr. Winkler and assuring him that Fonzie was the real star of Happy Days, not Richie.

I don't frequently have run-ins with the famous or semi-famous. My most memorable are a random handshake with Roy Williams, a quick hello in the home of Don S. Davis (http://imdb.com/name/nm0204493/#actor1980 , and a possible shared plane flight with pro wrestler Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

It made me think about fame, and how Henry Winkler can't get on an airplane without first having to talk to a bunch of strangers (some stranger than others) about stuff he did decades ago. I know it's the price of fame, and it was fun to meet him, but after shaking hands with him today it got me thinking... mainly about how many times he probably washes his hands every day.