A chance encounter with David Bowie in Denver in 1980
Re: “Bowie in Colorado,” Jan. 12 news story.
It was a beautiful July night in 1980 when I saw David Bowie at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts with a friend. I can hardly put into words how mesmerized I was as I watched his awesome performance as John Merrick, the “elephant man,” on stage. After the performance, I said to my friend, Frank, that we should go by the stage door. I was inquisitive about Bowie’s nature and I also knew that Denver’s theater crowd wouldn’t be thinking about the stage door — after all, Denver was a cow town compared to Chicago, where I’d just moved from. So Frank and I waited in the warm summer evening, being young and alive on a night out on the town. About a half-hour later, the stage door opened and Bowie appeared. There were only a handful of people around as he started to sign autographs, and for some reason I said to him, “David … David … .” And, in his British accent, he said, “Just a minute, lovey,” and gave me a gentle kiss on my cheek and signed my program.
I am saddened that he has passed on. He was a terrific artist and a gentle man.
Lynn Josef, Denver