Book 1

( Place on Page 60 between , paragraghs 7-8)

During this downtime of my life one event particularly stands out as a highlight- meeting John Ritter.

Somehow Mom snagged four tickets to The Mike Douglas Show, a popular daily talk show which was taped in Philadelphia. She always watched Mike Douglas, along with her usual soap operas.

So, on July 7th, 1977 ( 7/7/77) yours truly, along with Mom, Uncle Henry and Aunt Sue, attended the morning taping of Douglas, to be shown the next day. It was our first time ever in a TV studio, let alone being part of the audience for a program.If you search on the Internet you may be able to find us in the opening shot, sitting in the front row, clapping when we were told to, and smiling for no reason at all.

When I found the episode years later I regretted in shame wearing the powder  blue leisure suit, with the flowered short underneath ( unbuttoned  to mid-chest level, minus any gold chains). That was the style back then, real 70s baby. I wished someone would've told me it looked ridiculous.

Anyway, the guest list was impressive: joining Mike for 90 minutes was Denise Alexander ( popular soap opera actress...Mom was thrilled); distinguished actor Robert Duvall;  New Jersey-based rock & blues band Southside Johnny & Asbury Jukes; and comic-actor John Ritter, legendary  singing cowboy Tex Ritter's son, who just shot a pilot for a new comedy called "Three's Company."

I had no clue who any of these people were back then. I was hoping someone like John Lennon would be there, live and in person. It was pot luck who were the guests from day to day. So John Ritter and "Three's Company"   had no meaning in my life.

We gazed in fascination at all the lights and cameras, awestruck to be in the presence of a "megastar" like Mike Douglas.After the show we milled around the courtyard of the studio, as I sweated bullets in my polyester leisure in the summer sun. We were deciding whether to walk a few blocks to nearby Independence Hall to see The Liberty Bell when a husky guy approaches us and shouts at me above the noise of traffic and people.

"Hey," he says to me, "You wanna meet Johnny?"

"Johnny?" I repeated, hoping he meant John Lennon.

"Yeah, Johnny. Hey, Johnny, come over here a second!" he yells across the courtyard.

I look at the young guy he is yelling to, with a "come on!" gesture of his hand, and realize it's the same guy who was on the Douglas Show, the next to the last guest that day ( aside from some cheesy act with dogs jumping through hoops).  "Johnny" was posing for pictures with a group of young, twenty-something females, his arms around two at a time as cameras snapped.He wore a navy blue suit, not a leisure suit ( which I took note of).



Johnny comes right over to his manager, and the manager introduces us "Johnny, here's somebody who wants to meet you ( not really). He's a big fan of yours ( not really)."

"Hi!" Johnny says cheerfully, a wide, bright smile beaming on his face. "How are you? What's your name?"

"Hi," I reply, shaking his hand. "I'm Greg. Nice to meet you too."

We didn't bring a camera, which was pretty stupid, so a photo doesn't exist of the encounter.

"Would you please sign my ticket stub?" I ask, still not totally sure who this guy really is.

"Sure!" he answers, taking my pen and small stub, leaning over to sign. "Is that Greg with one G or two?" It wouldn't be the last time I was asked that question by a famous person.

"One," I said. Oh well, I thought. Maybe this guy will turn out to be something. No big deal.

"I hope you can read my chicken-scratching," Johnny jokes, handing me back the stub. I quickly look at the inscription: "To Greg, Best Wishes, John Ritter", with the "Ritter" part scrolled down along the side of the yellow stub because he ran out of room.

"Thanks alot," I said, shaking hands again. Johnny returns to his female fans.He    was  really nice guy, whoever the hell he was, I mentioned to Mom later in the car.

Before we headed to the parking lot we again saw Johnny, standing near the curb, hailing down a yellow taxi,  puffing on a cigarette another suit flung over his shoulder in a bag. Quickly he jumped in the cab and away he went in the Philadelphia sunshine.

"Johnny" would only  turn out to be one of the most brilliant comic actors of our time. His character of Jack Tripper would become an icon in American television history. "Three's Company" ran for eight seasons on ABC, a very funny and highly successful sitcom. John Ritter would become famous around the world, win an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, and play in numerous movies, including "Slingblade" and "Bad Santa."  Don Knotts would call him "the greatest physical comedian on the planet."

When he tragically died on September 11th, 2003 at the young age of 54, I cried.

Finally heading to our car, a familiar face turned the corner, walking toward us. It was Big Al Meltzer, a local sportscaster, a legend in his own right in Philly. We shook hands and  chatted a moment as Big Al continued on to the studio to do his nightly sports report.

"How 'bout that?" Henry exclaimed, smiling. We were both starstruck from meeting the one and only Big Al in the flesh Mom and Sue wondered what  the big deal was. . Meanwhile, the ticket stub signed by the one and only John Ritter remained in the pocket of my leisure suit jacket, tossed into a drawer, never  to be found again.

Who knew?