I have a friend who, while in college, played music in a symposium setting with Dizzy Gillespie, the legendary jazz great. By that one connection, this puts my other friends four degrees of separation from globally notable figures the world wide, including many if not most of the world leaders of the late 20th century, as Dizzy was loved by many far and wide across all political barriers.

I one time had a reasonably substantive conversation with Paul Newman... you know, "that" Paul Newman. This puts me two degrees of separation from many if not most of the very highest levels of the Hollywood entertainment elite, to whom I would otherwise have no seeming connection.

I'm not trying to bragg...

I have a friend who, while in college, played music in a symposium setting with Dizzy Gillespie, the legendary jazz great. By that one connection, this puts my other friends four degrees of separation from globally notable figures the world wide, including many if not most of the world leaders of the late 20th century, as Dizzy was loved by many far and wide across all political barriers.

I one time had a reasonably substantive conversation with Paul Newman... you know, "that" Paul Newman. This puts me two degrees of separation from many if not most of the very highest levels of the Hollywood entertainment elite, to whom I would otherwise have no seeming connection.

I'm not trying to braggadocios in this comment, but rather to point out the ease with which such loosely based connections can be made to reach such disparately far-flung individuals.