I quite often get asked "Did you ever meet anyone famous?". This is usually, but not always, linked to various posts I have held in the past. Some of the encounters were interesting, so I thought I'd jot them down. There's also some fun stuff on connections.

I suppose some people might call this name dropping, but never mind.

People

Edsger Dijkstra

Well, I did shake his hand, at least. If you don't know the name of this very important man in the world of computing, then please look at the Wikipedia entry. He was a man of quite strong opinions! He once visited the University of Kent to give a seminar, and that's when the said handshake took place.

Sir Ivan Lawrence

Sir Ivan is a former MP and criminal barrister; see Wikipedia. He has appeared in a number of notable criminal trials, for example the Kray twins (gangland murders), the serial killer Dennis Nilsen, Russell Bishop (Brighton Babes in the Wood murder), and the Brinks Mat gold bullion money-laundering activity. I know him because he went to my school (well before me!) and he attends school reunions. The singer Alma Cogan was his cousin.

Joanna Lumley

Most people have heard of Joanna, but if not, there is a Wikipedia article. Well, sort of. She was receiving an honorary degree, and I got to shake her hand. More interestingly, I knew someone who was wardrobe mistress at the Marlowe Theatre in the 1970s, and I believe Joanna was in rep. there. My friend told me of the day when she was having coffee with this young actress, and heard that she was excited (and nervous) because she had an audition the next day for a part in something called 'The Avengers'. The rest is history. (for the avoidance of doubt, this was a TV series - a quirky spy show - not the later film franchise).

Mike Padlipsky

Mike was an Internet pioneer, with whom I have drunk and talked on many occasions. There is more about him in many places, but you can start on Wikipedia. You will find his name on a number of RFCs.

C Northcote Parkinson

Cyril Parkinson is probably best known for Parkinson's Law. This states that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion". You can find out more about him in the Wikipedia article. His second wife died in 1984. A year or so later he met and married a lady named Iris Waters, who was from Canterbury. After a couple of years living in the Isle of Man, they moved back to Canterbury. I had dinner with him, in Darwin College, on a number of occasions. After he died I still occasionally saw Iris at these dinners. She told me that she had actually met Cyril via a dating agency, and they first met on Victoria Station, she having travelled up from Canterbury. She said that he greeted her with "I'm Cyril Parkinson, and I'm going to marry you". And, of course, he did. He died in 1994, and is buried in Canterbury.

Rupert Webb

Rupert Webb played first-class cricket for the Sussex team for over a decade, starting in 1948. There is a little about him on Wikipedia. I must admit I don't remember meeting him - but my mother did (and I think she fancied him a bit, but she would have been in her teens at the time). She knew him well, because he was a lodger in her family home for some time (the same house in which I grew up). He moved out in the late 1940s, but was a friend of the family, so almost certainly I did meet him when I was a child. Many people will know what he looked like in the 1990s, because he had an uncredited part in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral. He played the father of 'Duckface', the jilted bride of Hugh Grant's character, Charles.

Chris Woodhead

Chris was a British educationalist, who was most famous (probably) during his time as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England (1994-2000). You can find out more in the Wikipedia article about him. Chris was invited to give an open lecture at my place of employment, and the powers that be invited a number of local head teachers; I probably invited the ones that they did not. Chris was not popular in the teaching world, and had to implement policy that he didn't always agree with. The problem I had was the seating plan for dinner. He would be seated on my right, and really ought to have a teacher on the other side - but who could be trusted not to be too rude to him? I solved this by inviting my sister (a head teacher herself, but not from Kent), and telling her that if she wasn't polite, she would never be invited again. She told me later that they had had a lively discussion, that he disagreed with much of her research, but was very nice. I also found him a pleasant, friendly person; Wikipedia throws more light on him.

Connections

Many people are familiar with the idea of the Bacon number. This is a specific example of the six degrees of separation concept, which is the idea that all living things and everything else in the world are six (or fewer) steps away from each other so that a chain of "friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps.

I decided to try and put down the number of degrees of separation between me and some moderately well known individuals, just for fun. For brevity, I call the number of degrees of separation between me and some individual (call them X) my X number. Thus, my Bob Eager number is 0, and my wife number is 1.

By definition, for most of those listed in the People section above, that number is 1 (because I have met them). So, here are a few more. If you know me, and you have met someone notable, let me know so that I can update my list!

1 degree of separation

These are people I know or have met. The notable ones are probably listed in the People section above.

• George Carey
  Had dinner with him
• Mary Corpe
  One time next door neighbour. I used to play board games with her sometimes.
• Sir Clement Freud
  Met at a funeral
• Joanna Lumley
  See above
• Brian Matthew
  Had dinner with him
• Mike Padlipsky
  See above
• Rupert Webb
  Family friend

2 degrees of separation

These are people who have met people that I have met. You get the idea. So I could say, for example, that my Orlando Bloom number is 2.

• Roger Bannister
  I have met (often) Nicolas Stacey, the friend who supported him when he collapsed at the end of his run
• Tony Blackburn
  Brian Matthew
• Orlando Bloom
  I have met his mother
• Helena Bonham Carter
  Met family at uncle's funeral
• Alma Cogan
  Sir Ivan Lawrence
• Henry the bloodhound
  Clement Freud
• Aldous Huxley
  I know one of his nieces
• Sarah Keith-Lucas
  I knew her great-uncle Bryan
• Jon Postel
  Mike Padlipsky
• Ernest Rutherford
  I knew one of his godsons

3 degrees of separation

You'll probably realise that some of these are dependent on previous sections.

• Johnny Depp
  Orlando Bloom
• Jonathan Ross
  A friend of mine was on University Challenge with his brother
• Keira Knightley
  Orlando Bloom
• Jennifer Saunders
  Joanna Lumley

4 degrees of separation

• Kevin Bacon!
  Orlando Bloom's Bacon number is 2
• David Cameron
  Interviewed by Jonathan Ross

5 degrees of separation

• Barack Obama
  David Cameron

6 degrees of separation

• Donald Trump
  Barack Obama