I met Patrick Swayze late in the summer of 1986, during the three weeks between the end of summer classes and the start of fall classes (Va Tech begin late, in mid-Sep). It was at the dance room in the Marriott (we called it the "Merry-Rot"), at the corner of University Circle Blvd, off of which I lived, next to Krogers, and Prices Fork Rd. Swayze and some of the production staff had driven down from filming at Mountain Lake (about twenty minutes away). I'd gone there with a friend, but the place was dead, so we were just working on some dance moves ourselves, when in comes about fifteen people. I didn't recognize anyone but Swayze, and moved to get off the floor (we were one of three couples there), but he said, "No, stay, please," so we did.Man, could he dance! But as a former balet dancer, a lot of his movements were clearly formalized.All in all, good fun, and we even got a chance to talk to him a bit about the movie they were doing up at the lake (Dirty Dancing). He couldn't say much, but he was more than gracious enough to ask about the few of us who were there - he was genuinely interested, asking some questions about what we were studying, what we wanted to do, etc., before asking, "what else is there to do around here? It's hot as could be!" (not quite the terminology he used) and we all replied, "tubing down the New River! He looked thoughtful for a moment and jokingly said, "Wow, sounds like fun - I might have to go back to school!"At that time, the only thing I'd ever seen him in was Red Dawn. I had a crush on Lea Thompson at the time, more from Tom Cruise's All The Right Moves than Red Dawn, so I asked him what it was like to work with her, and he said, "She's a very nice girl."Needless to say, when Dirty Dancing came out the following summer, the news that he'd filmed the movie nearby had spread, and just about everyone on campus caught the film. A friend whose family owned the local theater said it was the most sold-out movie in town since Star Wars.May you rest in peace, Patrick, and my condolences to your wife, Lisa.