Caesar salad with Martin Espada

When I was in my early 20s I took a creative writing class at a local community college. I was a single
mother to a 4 year old at the time so I remember sitting down at the desk for the first time and feeling so excited to be able to have the time and space to create without interruption.

My professor’s name was Katherine Gilbert-Espada. The last name reminded me of the name of one of my favorite poets Martin ESPADA, but I did not make the connection.
It was not until the end of the semester when she invited us to her home for dinner when I realized the connection was real.

So flash forward to dinner at my professors home in Amherst, Massachusetts. We are just finished eating with the door open from one of the back rooms and in walks:

MARTIN ESPADA!!!

None of the other students knew who he was but I knew who he was from the moment he stepped into the kitchen. He is very tall so he is very easy to recognize if you know what he looks like. I held back from fainting because to me it was like meeting Michael Jackson. (Lol) He was gracious as he listened to some of our very green poems and then excused himself for the rest of the evening to do grading.

I saw him again many years later at a reading and he remembered meeting me at his home all those years ago. He asked if I was still writing, I said yes. He was pleased. He signed my book with a memory of that evening at his home in Amherst.

Have you ever been able to meet one of your favorite writers, actors, etc.? If so, what did you say to them?