Longtime Crested Butte crazy-lady Lynda Jackson was ready for her “Letterman” close-up Wednesday night. Was she ever.
Jackson has been a fan of David Letterman since his short-lived NBC morning show in 1980. She worked for the local cable company then and spent her mornings eating eclairs while watching TV.
Since Letterman’s been on late-night television, Jackson has always written in for tickets when she was visiting NYC. Finally, she got a call back last week saying she was in for Wednesday night’s audience.
She went to NYC with her passport, because she wanted solid proof that she was born on the exact same day as Letterman, April 12, 1947. She figured this coincidence might get her close to her hero. She might even get hired as an intern.
As she explains it, once at the theater she flashed her passport around. Someone took notice and tipped off Letterman. He came out before the broadcast and asked Jackson some questions — like how high up Crested Butte was — 8,888 feet, BTW.
Once it was show time, Letterman sat at his desk and told America that he planned to celebrate his birthday next year in Crested Butte — and get some of that altitude sickness. And then he gave a shout out to birthday mate Jackson in the audience. The camera zoomed in on her, and she got her 10 seconds of fame.
“I was very cool about it,” says the star-struck Jackson, who still remembers meeting John Lennon in 1970 and dancing with Jimmy Carter in 1990. “I can’t wait to get back to Crested Butte and bask in the glory. I wanted this to happen forever, and it did. Maybe he really will come to Crested Butte for his birthday.”
How to be Speidi.
Speaking of Crested Butte, its most infamous native daughter is Heidi Montag, one of the stars of MTV’s “The Hills.” She’s just out with a book penned with her nefarious husband, Spencer Pratt: “How To Be Famous.”
And, surprisingly, it’s self-deprecating and funny. Writes Heidi: “Even a small-town sweetie like me can see that there was a huge benefit to playing the bad girl, and I’m not even really a bad girl.”
She says it’s important to get plastic surgery and talk about it. “Sure, there are healthier ways to lose weight than stapling your stomach, but you can’t exercise your way into bigger boobs or a smaller nose.”
And who can argue with that?
Boo! Halloween! Fire!
The BOO-lesque Halloween show was sold out at Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret — but midway through the production, the fire alarm was tripped. Denver firefighters were immediately on the scene and arrived in the middle of the costume contest. They took some teasing from the girls in the show. Plus they won the runner-up prize for best costume.
City spirit.
A card in the mail tells me that Maeve McGrath and Pete Perry “finally tied the knot.” . . . The Denver Gorilla Run on Saturday smashed the Guinness World Record with 1,061 of “most people dressed as gorillas in one location.” . . . Sez who: “I love being single. It’s almost like being rich.” Sue Grafton
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. You can reach him at 303-954-1486 or bhusted@denverpost.com. Take a peek at Husted’s next column at .
