I got to meet the legend exactly one year ago. He came down to Brooklyn to read from his new book of poems, and very quickly became the best (and only) idea for a Christmas present for my husband.
It was mid week and they barely gave us any notice. They always do that when big celebrity is coming, but still, the house was packed. He read from his book with his rough, deep, broken voice. You could hear the passion behind the project, he would stop and relish on the drawings that accompanied it and the man who had made them. It was towards the end, for the Q&A, when the Lou we all expected came out, clearly annoyed with us for being there at all, slamming down his fans who so eagerly struggled to come up with an interesting question to make to their idol:
fan- "what do you consider was your greatest achievement"
Lou- "I'm not dead yet"
PS I recorded the whole reading. If he'd known that he probably would have been even more annoyed
