Meeting Charles Bronson
Approaching the movie icon, I pointed to the surgeon who bowed in our direction, and said his grandson was a die-hard fan. Bronson aggressively waved his hand in my face but calmly uttered two words, "No Autographs!!!” I attempted to explain, but he walked away without another word. A female aide came right up to me apologizing about his busy schedule and some flimsy excuse befitting his show of arrogance.
This barely 5-foot-9-inch actor-tough guy, wearing lifts raising his height a bit further, continued strutting for another 10-15 minutes. The power accompanying celebrity status fueled the egos of so many and Bronson’s had a gargantuan opinion of his. My father, an amateur boxer, stocky and one inch shorter than Bronson, had a mean left hook. At 17, I’d outgrown him to reach 5 feet, ten and one-half inches, but never challenged his authority. I wondered what he would have done in response to this tough guy’s belittling slight. I vowed to never watch another Bronson movie.
Casino Night
There we were, side-by-side at the Grand Lisboa Casino when the surrender rule came up. Each of us bet a hundred dollars per hand. The dealer had a nine showing, and you should assume he had a ten as his hole card. I was dealt two Aces. I, of course, split them and amazingly got a third Ace. I was now playing for three hundred bucks. Jerry had an eight showing and a ten as his hole card. I had two hands, each totaling twenty-one, and a miserable fifteen — I could’ve surrendered and lost half my bet, fifty dollars. The dealer annoyingly said, “You surrender, you surrender,” but feeling lucky, I retorted, “Americans never surrender.” Well, the dealer “busted” by going over twenty-one — I won all three hands, and Jerry also won his. Jerry yelled, “I like your style!” Our mutual respect could not have risen higher after the time we spent together visiting hospitals in Hong Kong. I eagerly followed his lead from that visit forward in the acute cardiopulmonary competition with Bentley, Harvey, and Cobe. After three days of spicy Asian foods, Jerry requested something mild and recognizable. On that last night together only one place came to mind for a superb Western meal — Gaddi’s at the Peninsula Hotel —and to celebrate a highly successful visit. He raved about his visit to Hong Kong for months afterward as my stock rose within the company.