I originally wrote this on April 26, 2020, upon the occasion of reading Val Kilmer's memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry. This is one of my most treasured memories, and even more so given that Val passed away earlier this month.
Val Kilmer is one of those actors who is just always there, being under-appreciated and delivering impactful, committed performances without being too showy about it.
He’s there in some of my favorite films: Top Gun, The Doors, Real Genius, Tombstone, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Salton Sea.
And he’s there, at the next table, when I am talking about him and one of his most famous lines, by sheer coincidence.
One summer weekend, many years ago, I watched the Kevin Costner Wyatt Earp movie – and I thought to myself, "Hey, I should read a biography of Wyatt Earp” (as you do). So I went into my job at the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore that Monday and browsed the biography section before heading to my basement lair to catalog greeting cards. A couple of my coworkers asked me what book I was looking for, and I explained that I was on the hunt for a Wyatt Earp biography – except I told them it was because I had watched Tombstone (which is obviously the much better and cooler Earp movie).
This prompted one of my more serious-yet-quirky colleagues (the head of shipping & receiving) to launch into some choice Doc Holliday quotes, including a pitch-perfect "I'm your huckleberry."
Fast forward to that evening, when my mother and I were having dinner at Nancy's (future workplace of one of the Obama daughters), and I was telling her about the Tombstone-related shenanigans at work... and then heard a familiar voice nearby. This was quickly followed by the realization that Val Kilmer was sitting at the table right next to ours.
He was with his son, so I didn't want to bother him, but it was nevertheless a highly surreal moment that will stay with me forever. My mother commented that Val had very nice skin, in case you were wondering.
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