Celebrity Saturday--Minnesota Fats

When I was a senior in high school, I traveled with some fellow Youth In Government peeps to Nashville for some hands-on learning at the state Capitol. Our school principal actually drove us--what a man! We were to attend an annual Youth In Government conference--you know, the kind where the students take over the legislature for a few days. Only we probably learned more about our state's capital city--and how snotty private-school peeps can be--than government. But that's another story. We sure had fun running around NashVegas and ditching some of the meetings. Shhhhhh ... don't tell anyone!

Anywhoooo, our school stayed at The Hermitage Hotel--not bad for a bunch of county school kids from East Tennessee, huh? And guess who happened to live at The Hermitage at the time? None other than Minnesota Fats, a.k.a. Rudolf Walter Wanderone Jr.--you know, the famous pool shark. I believe it was our principal who first pointed him out to us.

One day, my friend Wendy and I ran into him. He was very nice, posed with us for a few photos and even took us downstairs to show us part of the hotel. The above photo obviously isn't the best--maybe he was caught off guard. And I'm all smiles, of course, in my big hair and bangs.