John G. Morris passed away yesterday in a hospital in Paris at the age of 100. Today, I think back to the first time we met. To me, he will always be the most interesting man in the world.
The most interesting man in the world doesn’t star in beer commercials. Rather, he is an unassuming man who sat next to my husband and me at our favorite Paris bistro, Chez Janou. Although dapper, I was certain he wasn’t a sugar daddy to the young woman at his table. He was far too genuine to be a Svengali. We learned over the course of our conversation, he was exactly as he appeared–an elderly gentleman having a pre-Christmas dinner with his visiting granddaughter who he clearly adored.
It’s hard to ignore the person at the next table in Chez Janou. Our elbows nearly touched. Throughout the course of our dinner, we talked periodically. This man was a charming conversationalist with a willing and easy banter. He made me feel like a special person as he questioned us about our new home in Bratislava, why we lived there, and what I…
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Categories: Life in Paris
The World In Between 
Interestingly enough, I heard about him yesterday on NPR. WOW! I remember reading your post about this meeting and thinking it was a pretty incredible experience.
He was an amazing man, even in the briefest of encounters….
Hi Julie, You were fortunate to meet him, he was not well enough during our workshop to make his usual appearance. It is quite serendipitous that we watched the video, “Get the Picture” last week and I found myself wondering how John’s health was. Peter showed the film during the workshop and I managed to find a copy on Amazon, it is a good documentary of Mr Morris’s life with him narrating much of the content.
Hey Len… we met John during the time they were making Get the Picture. The woman who made this film also met John the way we did, at Chez Janou. (Only instead of writing a simple blog post, she made an entire film!) Since the film was crowd sourced, Pat and I made a contribution and hence received a copy of the movie when it was released. It’s a history lesson of 20th century photography! I wish you had met him during your class. You would have enjoyed it.