So. Was seated next to Robert Duvall the other night at a northern Virginia-area restaurant

[DFW]

88. We go back a few years

Not as many as she has had, but she just turned 84 last week. She IS a hoot. A lot of fun. And still very much the Jewish grandmother. My wife and I were with her at the Frankfurt Book Fair a couple of years ago, and she was leading us around to some of the Israeli publishers she knows, when she spied one of the stands with free snacks. She dove in, wrapped up some food, and told us to pack it into our small bags so we wouldn't have to buy anything on the train back up to the Rheinland. Always gives me a handful of her "Sex for Dummies" keychains to hand out to my friends, most of whom have two by now. Her office in New York is a 5 minute walk from where my elder daughter lives, so we always see each other when I'm there.

All the other times I met up with Bill Clinton, it was at events where we were both expected to be there. The first time was a private thing with just my family, him and Al Gore, which was VERY cool. But once time, maybe four years back, I was on the train from New York to DC, and I heard a voice behind me and thought, hey that sounds just like Bill Clinton. I turned around, and it WAS Bill Clinton. Before I could chat, though, his Secret Service detail escorted him to the first class car, for which I did not have a ticket. Amtrak had two very tough-looking women guarding the entrance to the first class car. Still, after we were underway, I made my way there, told the women straight out I had no ticket, but that I just wanted to say hi to Clinton, and that we knew each other. They were VERY skeptical (wonder why? LOL), but luckily I had some photos of me together with him and Hillary, and that convinced them to let me in, and we chatted a while before I feared overstaying my welcome in the "elite" car, and made my way back to my car. When we got to DC, the first class car was at the end, so I got out first. I had a LOT of luggage, so I waited for a porter. Clinton had no such worries, so he and his entourage walked right by me, and straight out of the station. Still, as he passed me, he turned, slowed down and waved to me, which got me a bunch of "who the hell is that guy" looks, which amused the hell outta me.

He is every bit as personable and as bright as he seems on TV, and when people say he has a rock star aura about him, it's no exaggeration.