Just over five years ago, on Monday, March 4, 2019, actor Luke Perry passed away from a stroke. The outpouring of love that followed included a story from Colin Hanks, who was once on a flight with Perry. It’s pretty cool, so I decided to share it. Here’s the story from Hanks’ Instagram post. RELATED: Slow Down and Soak It In as Anthony Bourdain Would
“I only met him once but the story is too good not tell given todays sad events. My wife and I are on a plane back from Mexico. Couple of rows ahead of us, these two brothers, young kids, are beating the hell out of each other. Their poor parents are powerless to stop the crying, yelling and screaming. If you’re a parent you understand. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do.

“It was like this for close to two hours. Then about 10 minutes before landing it starts to get real bad. Out of no where, a man comes from first class. Hat, beard, sunglasses, blowing up a balloon. He ties it off, hands it off like he’s holding out a sword to a king. Kneeling, Head down, arms up. Kids calm down in milliseconds. Plane d—n near bursts into applause. 15 minutes longer and it probably would have started WWIII, but we landed before that could happen.

“We get off the plane, are waiting on line in customs. Finally get a good look at the guy and I say to my wife ‘Holy s—t. I think that balloon man/hero is Luke Perry’. As luck would have it we end up standing next to each other. Out of the blue he turns to me and says some kind words about Fargo, which kinda blew my mind. I start singing his praises about how long I’ve admired him and also about the move with the balloon. ‘That’s a pro move! You can’t teach that!’ I say. He tells me he always flies with a couple of balloons for that very reason, to give to screaming kids. Don’t know if that’s true, but have no reason to believe it wasn’t. Guy seemed like a true gent. Gone way too d—n soon. Also, I’ll be d—ned if I don’t start traveling with some spare balloons.”

Pretty cool, right? Cheers to Luke Perry. Here’s the full post:

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Colin Hanks (@colinhanks)

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5 Comments On "Remembering Luke Perry Five Years After His Death and His Brilliant Travel Tip"
  1. Anthony|

    Great tip and story. Of course I wonder about one balloon and two boys but still …

  2. Priya Wong|

    What is happen if the balloons that fill up with air and make a loud pop?
    I don’t know that is a good idea!!!

  3. Max Webber|

    Poor parents powerless? Unless these two were infants the parents were not powerless, just thoughtless and rude to all the passengers.

  4. Melanie WIlliams Galuten|

    Another great reason to fly with balloons with your kid. When they are old enough to blow it helps with take off and landing regulating the ears. I used to write a travelling with kids tips blog and that one is a winner, I promise you!

  5. Meg|

    Fargo?

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