On Twitter, @Doug_Tilley asked, “Tell me a story of when meeting your hero(es) lived up to expectations,” which led to a pretty amazing thread.

@GregNoleFan: I met Vince Flynn when he was on a book tour and my wife was 8.5 months pregnant. He stopped what he was doing, made sure she had a seat at the front, and said some really beautiful things about how becoming a parent changes you. Everything I could have hoped for.

@GregNoleFan: I found out later he was sick during that tour with the cancer that ended up taking his life. Such a wonderful man, who was gone way too soon.

@AtriaMysteryBus: Was the event in San Diego?

@GregNoleFan: It was.

@AtriaMysteryBus: I traveled with Vince on that tour in my role as his publicist. Hopefully that makes what I’m about to share less creepy and more nice: did I oddly take a photo of the encounter that you described?

@GregNoleFan: Holy cow. This is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for this. This is so amazing. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. Thank you so much.

@AtriaMysteryBus: I might be as happy as you are for some unknown reason. It’s just a totally random occurrence that reminds me how great Twitter and the internet can be. And thanks for @Doug_Tilley for unknowingly sparking this magic!

@GregNoleFan: Came across the picture we had from the event today. He made sure we were right up front.

BONUS: There is a video of the event!

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