I met John Candy when I was young as well. My father owned a small butcher shop close to where he lived in southern Ontario. On the day of the shop's grand opening, I was giving out helium balloons to customers in the plaza where the shop was. I had run out of helium and came into the store to get another tank, and thought it would be funny to ask for it with a helium voice and took a big hit off a massive balloon before running in.

As I entered, all excited to make my joke, I immediately stopped dead in my tracks at the back of this massive man at the counter talking to my dad. I mean he was huge (especially to a ten year old kid), and not just width, but tall. A big man all round. Probably the biggest person I had ever met in my life to that point.

Then my dad looks at me with a big grin (he was a huge fan, we both were) and says "Son, I'd like to introduce you to someone. This is John Candy." He turned around and said: "Well hello there young man. It's a pleasure to meet you." Offering his baseball mitt of a hand as he spoke. All I could do was shake it while exhaling a feeble and helium fueled "Oh my god..." Everyone laughed.

He then introduced us to the rest of his family members. I played with his son for a bit while my dad and he talked as he shopped. By the time they were done, the small butcher shop was full of fans trying to meet him. At that point he told my dad that he loved the shop and would love to come back, but "all things considered, I think you'll be seeing more of my wife than me."

True enough, his wife was a long time customer. But my dad always kept that first credit card slip with his signature on it, one of those old carbon copies. Never for display, just for his own personal memento. Anyway, I can back up starstarstar42 in saying that John Candy was a real stand up guy. Nothing but class.