Dateline: Indianapolis 10.8.10
I got the chance to meet one of my heroes last night.
I’ve been a fan of Andrew Zimmern and his shows on the Travel Channel for years. Andrew travels the world looking for “the last stop on the subway” in hopes that what he experiences will change him and his change will in turn change the world. Andrew eats his way through exotic ports and bush town. He eats what they eat. Whale blubber, bugs, and Yak penis….sure he’ll try it. He usually will describe things as Earthy and sometimes vile. One item was described as paint thinner and orange drink. But he eats them with a smile so as to not offend his hosts.
He is a story teller. He regales you with his exploits and speaks of circumcision rituals with equal comfort as whale hunting and five star restaurants. As he began speaking last night there was one thing abundantly clear. Andrew Zimmern is a very nice man. What you see on his shows is exactly what you get.
I have had the good fortune to meet many of my heroes; Clint Eastwood, Samuel L Jackson, Steve Garvey, Reggie Jackson and Arnold Palmer. Sometimes those meetings have been great life affirming times that tells you the person really is worthy of your interest (Garvey, Palmer and Eastwood). Other meetings were not so great (Reggie Jackson). But in every case, it is a cool thing to say you did.
But Andrew was different. The self described chubby, bald Jewish kid worked the crowd, posed for photos and took his own videos of the crowd, he messed with little kids and swore that he would stay to meet every person there to see him. The crowd of over 400 stood patiently waiting to meet the travel god and culinary freak. They were thrilled to see him. But what was even cooler was that it was clear that he was thrilled to see them.
