familial brushes with greatness

When I started college many years ago, I declared architecture as my major. That didn't go so well, but that's another story. What was neat was one of my late uncles had mentioned that when he was a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he had a famous roommate...

My uncle didn't mention who his famous roommate was only after realizing what my choice of major was; it was something he had mentioned briefly as I was growing up. Considering who it was, he certainly could have done a lot more name-dropping than he did.

Which reminds me of a bit of trivia: it seems that back in college, Tommy Lee Jones and Al Gore were roommates! But I digress...


My uncle's roommate back at M.I.T. was I.M. Pei, the world-renown architect.

Back when I learned of this, I found it interesting, but didn't ask or inquire as much as I would now. All I can recall my uncle saying was he remembered that I.M. (I wonder what my uncle called him?) was so talented that he could socialize and party his time away, then pull all-nighters to get his assignments done, and still turn in stellar work. I'm trying to come up with what I.M. Pei means in the world of architecture to people of equivalent stature in other fields - I mean, he's a big deal!

I remember mentioning it when I was a freshman in college to an acquaintance whom was a senior architecture major. I wasn't boasting or anything; at the very least it was awfully cool - and all Dewitt had to say was: "Sure Arthur."

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Another big name associated with an uncle of mine (this one an oral surgeon) is supermodel Christy Turlington. Although I haven't heard about this personally, another cousin of mine mentioned that he has worked on her teeth. Pretty cool too, huh?