I’ve had dinner with Ralph Nader and Howard Zinn but I wouldn’t say I “know” them. Ralph was a messy eater, and as a naive college student I was shocked that he wasn’t vegetarian. Nader was very quiet. Zinn was mellow and spent most of the time talking about Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. I think they are all family friends or something. When I was campaigning for John Kerry we were visited by Michael Moore and Rosanne. Rosanne was unrecognizable, and even though I am a huge fan of Michael Moore, I found myself annoyed with him for being so late to visit our crew when we were supposed to be out talking with voters. We were trying to win an election, you know? I found that after meeting so many of my heroes I got over it and didn’t put them on a pedestal. Some politicians who I have gotten to know on a personal level (not folks mentioned here) helped me realize that too. I may still admire them, but see them in a more human way now.
I also got to meet Vandana Shiva in India. Reading some of her work actually inspired me to study abroad there. I had NO IDEA we were going to meet her, and I was the only one in my class who knew who she was, but I told everyone about her and they got excited. I think I got to sit next to her and she gave a lecture and we visited her farm. She was working on a lawsuit against Monsanto at the time and kept having to leave to answer calls on her cell phone. That was pretty badass.
I also met Al Gore. He appeared to have make- up on when I met him. I got to see his “inconvenient truth” slideshow in person. That was a once in a lifetime experience.