That’s Linda sitting beside George Stroumboulopoulos. Linda’s photo is great but the story behind it is even better. Since I’m too busy to write anything right now, I’ll let Linda tell the story in her own words (think of her as a guest blogger while I entertain my family). Take it away, Linda:
I went to The Hour last Wednesday . . . During the shows, I chatted with audience members. At the regular show, I chatted with a couple. They wanted to take a photo with George using their camera phone. I offered to take a photo with my camera and email it later. The guy happened to know how to use a SLR so he said he could take a photo of me with George. I was thrilled because people usually freak out when they find out it isn’t a point and shoot camera or the photo always comes out bad. I hate to admit this, thinking that nobody would know how to use my camera, I was actually going to leave without meeting George.
Your photo/sign: We were at the end of the line. Had there been other people behind us, I'm not sure that this photo would have happened. I chatted with George for a bit about career stuff (he's the real thing and such a sweetie). When it came time to take a photo, I asked if we could sit in the interview chairs. George was happy to do that. After the photo, I said "I think I'll send this to my friend Sarah. She's teaching English in Japan. She'll get a kick out of this." I have no idea why I said that. That thought hadn't crossed my mind, but the words just came out of my mouth!
To my surprise, George asks if I'm referring to Sarah Marchildon. Still surprised, I think I replied with “yes, Sarah from the Suzuki Foundation.” I can’t recall his exact words, but I think he said “Oh, Sarah's a nice girl/lady.” Then a light bulb goes on in his head and he suggests that we take a photo of us holding a sign. That started the search for a pen and paper. After a minute of going around the studio, George comes back with a pen and paper, but he then realizes that pen ink might not photograph well. So, he excuses himself and runs to the back area (to the control room? office area?) in search of a marker. While George is looking for a marker, my "photographer" is busy checking out my camera (he's never used a digital SLR). My "photographer" is itching to try out my camera and he suggests to take several photos of me sitting in George's chair while we wait for George to reappear (BTW, close up, the chairs are not a true red).
A few minutes later, a lady comes out from the back area and asks me if "Sarah is spelled with an 'h'." I confirm that it is and she runs back to tell George. A few minutes later, George (sporting a smirk on his face) walks out with a “Sarah We Miss You” sign. We do a few takes -- the photo I sent you is by far the best one.
After the "photo session", I thanked him for everything. As George was heading to the back area, he shouts out, "say 'hi' to Sarah for me and tell her that we miss her."
(Thank you, Linda! The photo and the story made my day. And, thank you, George. You have officially knocked Claire Martin out of her reigning position as my favourite CBC personality of all time.)
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