Gene Simmons didn't have the best reputation in a number of areas, and his songwriting chops took another hit in 2006 when he wrote "I am Indy" in partnership with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
However...I was friends with Tony and Laura George of the Hulman-George family that owned the Speedway, and I would be invited to the Pagoda every year for the 500. My mother, a very proper English lady of 80 back then, used to really enjoy the pageantry, so she often flew to Indianapolis and accompanied us to the race.
That year, as we got into the elevator to ride up to our floor, who was standing there but Gene Simmons. My 5'2" mother looked up at the 6'2" Simmons and asked "Are you someone important?" He replied "Certainly not as important as you, ma'am," and they proceeded to have a delightful conversation that continued for a good five minutes after they exited the elevator.
Gene was cultured, intelligent, extremely polite, and a genuinely interested conversationalist, listening carefully and actually conversing as opposed to performing. My mother often spoke fondly of him in later years. He was certainly not the Gene Simmons who had that infamous interview with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air a few years later.
I was going to post a picture of her with him in that elevator, but decided that I didn't want my mother and Gene together on the internet for eternity...
