The Crossbow

Jay Leno called me today.  (Really!)

Even though the call came in reply to a letter that I had written to him, I didn't really expect much of a reply.  I certainly didn't expect the Jay Leno to call me, himself, at my house.

I've written to celebrities before.  And, I've had replies before.  But, not like this.

Jay Leno actually talked with me, not to me.  He was friendly, and did not rush the call.  He graciously handled the fact that I did not believe it was him.  (He probably gets that a lot.)  On the phone, he sounded more like someone trying to imitate Jay Leno, as compared to the way his voice sounds on his television show.  He chatted more like a Nashville music star (except for the accent), instead of a Hollywood TV star.  (I've chatted with several Nashville stars.  None of them rushed the conversation, either.)  He was just "a regular guy", and I really enjoyed the chat -- once I got past the fact that it wasn't some prankster pretending to be Jay Leno. 

A little background is needed at this point.

The letter that I wrote was in support of an upcoming activity that our local chapter of the group Rolling Thunder will host next year.  Our chapter president mentioned that it would be nice to get some celebrities involved, and he mentioned Jay Leno by name, because Leno often shows videos of himself riding his Harley.  (We've ridden with celebrities before, and even did the security for a CD roll-out party for a big-name Nashville music group.)

Rolling Thunder TN-1 at a gun range with talk-radio host G. Gordon Liddy

Leno could not participate in the ride, due to a schedule conflict.  But, he graciously offered to donate a block of four VIP tickets for The Tonight Show as an item for a fundraising auction.  I did not ask him to do that; he volunteered it.

People that know me know that I got the gift of gab ... and then some.  But, I was almost speechless when I realized that it was the real Jay Leno.  Fortunately, Jay carried most of the conversation.  (A few years ago, in a rare moment, I was totally speechless when a bicycle accident caused a Good Samaritan driver to stop and check on me, and it was Johnny Cash.  June was sitting beside him in the Land Rover.  There's an excellent story behind that encounter.)

And, that leads to the title of this blog entry.  The thing that struck me about Jay Leno was the genuine tone of the conversation.  Here was a guy that had struggled to launch his career.  (On his program, he sometimes tells vignettes about the tough times.)  So, now that he is a multi-bazillionaire, he doesn't act snooty.  (He probably makes more money in a week than Tennessee state representatives make in a year, but some of them are very snooty.)  Jay Leno struck me as "a class act".  But, what made the encounter truly high class was the fact that it was no act.