Every day after school I liked to find a cool spot to relax until it was time to walk home, the mid-day sun was too intense. The Frangipani was one of my favorite places to sit, another great spot was Hodge and Betsy Taylor’s Chandlery in the middle of Port Elizabeth.
The Chandlery was a terrific place for people-watching due to its central location, and Hodge provided chairs and a couple of tables for those wishing to sit down for a cold drink. The Chandlery sold all manner of yachting equipment and was always busy with sailors needing parts for their boats. Like the Frangi, it was a gathering place, and I met a lot of interesting people there over the years.
One afternoon I was sitting at the Chandlery sipping a coke and chatting with my friends Kent and Paulette. I was idly watching people as they passed on the street and thought I recognized a face. Turning to my friends I said, “Hey, doesn’t that look like Dustin Hoffman?”. Kent and Paulette just shrugged. I said, “C’mon you guys, it looks just like Dustin Hoffman!”. Kent and Paulette had never heard of the man, something I should have realized – there were no televisions on Bequia and the local cinema usually showed Chinese Kung-Fu movies. They had never seen “Little Big Man” or “The Graduate”, two of my all-time favorite movies.
I decided to meet the actor. Telling Kent and Paulette to save my chair I followed Mr. Hoffman up the street and into the local grocery store. Gathering my courage, I approached him and said, “Excuse me, but aren’t you Dustin Hoffman?” I figured he might get annoyed or feel pestered but he couldn’t have been nicer. He took off his sunglasses, smiled at me and said, “Yes I am, and who are you?” We stood chatting in the shop for quite some time. He was curious about where I was from and how I came to be on the Island. He wanted to see the High School so I pointed it out to him, the two of us strolling along the street like old friends. The man could not have been more charming.
That evening I mentioned to my house-mates that I had met Dustin Hoffman and they sniffed scornfully. They had seen him at Lower Bay beach teaching his son how to water-ski, or at least trying to. Evidently Mr. Hoffman had lost his temper in a rather spectacular fashion and my colleagues had not been impressed! I thought he was wonderful, he was very nice to me and I was glad I had the opportunity to meet him. He remains one of my favorite actors.
