Choices We Make

Almost 30 years ago to the day (give or take a few months...) I had press credentials to cover the ABA book convention in Las Vegas. It happens to have been the year, "The Art of the Deal" was published. At one point, a guy I knew came rushing up to ask me breathlessly in excitement if I was going to Trump press conference in 10 minutes, just down the hall. "No," I said. It's how I felt about him three decades ago, and never have regretted not attending a contained, free press event 100 feet away to see close-up the man who would later, bizarrely, become president.

As it was, I moved along the hallway and, as whimsy would have it, ran into Stephen King and chatted with him about a mutual friend, writer-director Mick Garris.

Little did I know that in two years, I'd be doing the on-set PR for King's movie, Pet Sematary. When it comes to choice of conversations and later occurrences, I have long-known I came out on top...