Celebrities, Famous and Infamous

When I was a reporter I got a lot of invitations. My beat was insurance, so many of the invitations were to insurance company or agency association functions, both in the New York City area where I lived and worked, and elsewhere.

You might be surprised at some of the famous - or infamous - people who show up at insurance functions. OJ Simpson, the famous running back, sometime actor and infamous criminal defendant, who was working in Hertz Rent-A-Car ads, drew a big crowd during an insurance conference when he was handing out small, yellow, Hertz-branded footballs.

Mookie Wilson, one of my favorite players for the New York Mets, whose at-bat during the 1986 World Series is forever etched in baseball lore, was at an insurance function and autographed his picture for me. I still have it.

One of my favorite moments was with the golf legend Arnold Palmer. For those too young to remember him, he was the Tiger Woods of his day. He even had his own "Arnie's Army" of fans following him from course to course.

While my father-in-law got Arnold Palmer's autograph, I got
this nifty golf bag. 

Not being a golfer we did not run in the same social circles. However, in 1986 the insurance company UnionMutual was going to host a Seniors Golf Classic tournament and invited me, managing editor of a weekly trade magazine, to attend a press lunch announcing it. And there was Arnold Palmer, who would be playing in the tournament.

We didn't speak but we were at the same luncheon table. The public relations guy sat between us. I mentioned my father-in-law, Walt, an avid golfer and big Arnold Palmer fan. The PR guy turned to Palmer. "Got a 'To Walt' for me, Arnie?" handing him a piece of paper. Palmer complied, writing "To Walt" then "Arnold Palmer," then handed the paper back. He didn't smile or even look at me. I guess for a legend this was business as usual.

But it made Walt very happy. He kept that paper in his wallet for years. Palmer died in 2016. Walt died in 2017.

At the same function I was given a very nice golf bag, which my husband uses when we travel. Swag is as important a part of these PR functions as meeting celebrities and eating in fancy restaurants like The Four Seasons or 21 that I would otherwise not be able to afford.

Then there was Rudolph Giuliani.

He is infamous now, thanks to his association with Donald Trump. But before he was New York City's mayor, before his presidential campaign, he was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which includes Manhattan.

I did not write the blurb calling Giuliani the US District Attorney.

In 1987 the weekly I worked for was bought by a guy out of Westchester, N.Y., who ran a public relations firm. One of his clients was the Westchester County Chamber of Commerce. The guest speaker at its annual luncheon that year was Rudolph Giuliani. So I went along with the Chamber of Commerce chief and the owner. I was there to take notes and transcribe the interview. The men did most of the talking.

I don't remember much of what I said to Giuliani but I do remember saying it must've been strange growing up a Yankees fan in Brooklyn, where he, like me, was born.

From the introduction to the article:

"From his office in the Justice Department Building in lower Manhattan, Rudolph Giuliani, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, can watch the traffic heading over the Brooklyn Bridge to the borough where he lived until the age of 7. Growing up a Yankee fan in the shadow of Ebbets Field and the Dodgers gave the young Giuliani a feeling of independence, he says."

Not bad. I also called him "the best-known Republican in a city run by Democrats. He is interested in running for senator. Or governor. Or maybe even mayor."

Well.

He was U.S. Attorney until 1989, the year he first ran for mayor. He eventually succeeded in 1994 and lasted until 2001. His handling of the city after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 propelled him into national attention and a run for president. "America's Mayor," people called him.

That was then.

He got hit with a huge defamation lawsuit by two Georgia poll workers when he claimed they had committed election fraud, costing Trump the 2020 election. Since his pardon in November 2025 by the re-elected (in 2024) Trump, Giuliani has had his time in the news, usually conservative media. He has blasted the current New York City mayor. There were his divorces. There was his car accident in New Hampshire. There was his grief over the 2025 death of disgraced former Police Commissioner - and longtime friend - Bernie Kerick, also pardoned for his crimes by Trump. 

Sad.

I have a photograph taken after we finished the 1987 interview. Shown are the Chamber guy, the owner and me with Giuliani. When Rudy shows up in the news nowadays, I think of that photo and shake my head.