Here is a "reprint" of my Forum story that describes my "encounter" with JT in the mid-1980s.

My Encounter with James Taylor took place back in 1986. I had gone to the doctor's office (this in in Los Angeles), and it turned out that I had come to my appointment on the wrong day. I didn't think for a minute, though, that I had made the trip for nothing, because on the way to the doctor's office, I ran into James Taylor. Here's what happened...

This particular medical building has a parking lot with an elevator that you take to a certain floor, then you walk across a bridge to the doctors' offices and take another elevator to the floor you want. When I got out of my car in the parking lot and got into the elevator, I was confused about whether to take the elevator down to the street or to the bridge level, so I was kind of preoccupied when I got into the elevator and didn't notice right away that there was someone in the elevator when I got in. When I did notice that there was someone in the elevator, I was at first a little startled, and then was became startled in a big way because that "someone" just happened to be JT!!!! I have followed his career from the beginning (well, almost) and I've never missed a concert he's played in LA, even when I lived in Orange County.

At first, all I could say was something like "where are we going?" (referring to whether we were taking the elevator up to the bridge or down to the ground floor), and he said, in a really nice way, "Well I'm going here," pointing to the lit button. Then I had a second or two to decide whether I should stay silent or let him know that he is my absolute favorite. It wasn't long before I realized this was too good an opportunity to pass up, so I said, "I'm a really big fan of yours, and it was such a shock to see you in the elevator." "Oh, he said, "I'm sorr.y," in that cute way he has of being humorouly semi-self-deprecating. The personality he projected in that brief exchange was just like the wonderful one he projects on stage, and it was a relief to know that he is, apparently, that way in real life, too. As we exited the parking lot elevator and walked toward the lobby, I was walking a little ahead of him, but then I turned back to him and asked him a question about when he would next be playing in playing in LA, and we discussed that as we walked to the next set of elevators and waited for one to arrive. I felt delighted that not only was he taking the time to talk with a stranger, but also he seemed genuinely interested in what I was saying. When we got on the elevator (which also had many other people on it), we didn't exchange any more words, but as he got off on his floor, he turned around, looked at me and said, "Bye." Wow! I felt like a million bucks (and I think I got a few looks from the other elevator passengers, like, who's she?).

I've met a number of celebrities who I've admired, and most of the time they never live up to the image I have created of them in terms of warmth, but JT was completely perfect. What a thrill to have him be just like I'd always thought -- or hoped -- he would be.

Much of the details of what I've written here is not from memory... the experience made such an impression on me that I wrote it all down at the time and I've kept in all these years, never knowing what I should do with it. Thanks to JTO and all of you, I now have a great place to share it with people who will understand how it felt.