As a reporter, I've put questions to Al Pacino, Denzel Washington and Meryl Street, but the biggest star I've ever interviewed is 8-foot, 1-inch Sultan Kösen, the newly crowned tallest man in the world.
Kösen is the first man in more than 20 years -- and only one in ten people in history -- to be measured by Guinness at more than 8 feet tall.
To put that in perspective, this giant among giants is a foot taller than Shaquille O'Neal and more than 7 inches taller than Yao Ming.
I met Kösen in Times Square before profiling him for AOL News, and a man in the crowd tried to make him laugh.
"Are you taller than your father?" the person asked.
"Of course," he said, beaming. "I'm taller than everyone's father."
Kösen was just a normal 10-year-old farmboy in eastern Turkey when a tumor behind his eyes began pressing against his pituitary. He was less than 5 feet tall, and in less than three years he was bumping his head in doorways, too tall to go to school.
Now, at 26, Kösen is world famous. He's traveling the world promoting the 2010 edition of Guinness World Records, but he's very candid about trying hard to live a normal life.
Of course, that's not so easy when the spray from a shower hits you at the navel.
"I want a girlfriend, a car and a good job," Kösen. "I think I've frightened the girls with my size. I hope that changes when I get home."
-
Related:
- A Big Goodbye to Sandy Allen, World's Tallest Woman
- Sandy Allen Photos
- Bao Xishun: World's Tallest Dad
- New World Records Photo Gallery
- Photos: Great Ripley Oddities and Attractions
Photo courtesy Marc Hartzman
Join Me on Facebook | Get My Twitter Updates
Comments