Back in 1991, I was living in northeastern Illinois, in a town called Waukegan. I worked at the Zion Nuclear Generating Station in Zion, Illinois, 8 miles north of Waukegan. I had read in the local paper that there was going to be a speedboat race which would take place in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, 3 miles north of Zion. Winthrop Harbor had just opened its new marina there and it was to be used that day to launch all the speedboats. The paper listed a few celebrities who were going to be there, one of whom was none other than Stephen Stills himself, and he was going to be the co-pilot of The Queen Of The Amazon, a huge, sleek looking affair. You can see a picture of it on the cover of his 1984 solo record "Right By You".

Anyway, the race was on a Sunday, and as luck would have it, I was working that day, a victim of our mandatory overtime policy at the Nuke Station. Mandatory overtime wasn't a bad thing, it was double time after all, and not much work was done as a rule. We were there just as coverage, "just in case". In fact, our Supervisor thought it would be a cool thing to haul some grills and coolers up on the roof of the place and have a barbeque party while enjoying a bird's eye view of the race. It was sweet, alright. As high up as we were, we could see all the way to Chicago, so it was no problem to see down to Waukegan, which was where they would race to and then turn around at and head back to Winthrop Harbor again, and just make loop after loop, back and forth from Waukegan Harbor to Winthrop Harbor. We figured it was a good 20 mile loop, and they did at least ten laps.

And this was all quite cool.

Except that I had a burning desire to meet Steve Stills, and here I was, trapped at work. I needed a plan. I ended up telling some of my buddies of my intentions to sneak out for an hour or so, and go meet Stephen, snap a shot or two and then sneak back. All I wanted was somebody to cover for me. If I got caught, it could have meant criminal charges, as this was a Nuclear facility, and to walk off the job, even for a few minutes would have been tantamount to abandoning my post.

So I did the only thing I could do. I snuck out.

I headed up to the Harbor and got there an hour before the races started. I searched all around and saw the Amazon. I headed over there, figuring that Stills could not be far away. I was right. He was doing some things over by the boat, readying it for launch. Incredibly, almost no one was around him. No crowds of fans, no autograph hounds, nothing like what you would think. He appeared to be pretty busy, and I felt a little bad about bugging him, but here I was with my job on the line to meet him and I figured I'm not about to let this one pass me by. So I walked right up to him and said "Hiya, Stephen!! He looked up and said "What's happening?", and then he saw my camera and I saw a look come over his face, kinda like an "Oh no, another picture taking autograph seeker" look. He must go through that till he's sick of it, I guess I don't really blame him. I said "I'm not gonna bug ya, Steve, I just came up here from work, I'm a huge fan and I just wanted to meet ya", or words to that effect. He said "Yeah, well glad to meet you, but I'm busy here and I gotta get this done so we can launch".

I felt like I was really imposing already, so I told him of how I snuck out of work and how I could get canned from my job for doing so if I got caught, and he softened up a bit. I think he said "Jeez", or "Damn!" or something like that. He said he wished things weren't so hectic, cuz then he could answer a few of my questions or sign some album covers or something, but he really did need to get going. I said "That's cool Steve. Could I just take one photo, and I'll be on my way?" He said "Yeah, sure", and then just stood up straight and put on a smile and I snapped the picture. I wish I had had the presence of mind to ask someone nearby to snap one of Stephen and I together, but I really felt like I was bugging him, plus I was worried a bit about getting back to work. I said "OK Stephen, thanks a lot. I work at the Nuke Plant over there and me and my friends will be up on the roof watching the race, good luck!" He said "That's great, we'll see ya there!" I shook hands with him, and then I split. I kicked myself all the way back to work for not having been more assertive in trying to get a picture of the two of us together, but oh well.

I got back to the plant and no one knew that I had gone except for the few close friends that I had told about it. I tell ya, I was just bursting to tell somebody about my meeting Stills, but didn't dare to. At any rate, the race soon started, the burgers and bratwurst were cookin' and a great time was had by all. Still's boat performed well, but didn't win. It was exciting all the same.

I remember one of my buddies saying "Hey, Bill, I guess your man Stills ought to stick to playing that guitar, he sure ain't no speedboat driver!" Well, Stephen was only the co-pilot, not the driver, but he was right. He sure as hell is a great guitar player.