Dennis Hopper passed away on Saturday, 29 May 2010. Better and more coherent words have been said about the man, including Telegraph's obituary here.

I will always remember him as the kind man who forgave a nervous 19-year-old on her first backpacking trip to Europe, who understood her English of motioning hands and thrust-out camera, but not his name (I totally blanked out). The unrecognisable man who stood in front of me in the gelato line in Venice, who recommended his choice of ice-cream and I acquiesced, the flavour long forgotten now. He left my heart beating rapidly, my one and only encounter with Hollywood, ever.

The picture taken is still there somewhere in my collection, and for that--and putting me on a travel-high for some days following that encounter, I thank him.