GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Last week, Kirk Jackson was in the middle of eating a messy barbecue meal when his phone rang.
"It was from a number I didn't recognize, so you know it happens, but I was in the process of eating barbecue so that comes first," Jackson said, laughing.
Jackson is glad he returned the call.
Jackson runs a typewriter sales and repair shop, Nashville Typewriter. He started pursuing that full-time after his other jobs dried up during the pandemic.
The typewriter enthusiast community is a relatively small one, but its most famous member -- is in a league of his own: Tom Hanks.
So Jackson set out to type a letter to Hanks, and a couple of months later he got a response, saying he'd stop by the next time he was in Nashville.
That letter, led last week, to the call.
When Jackson called back, Hanks himself answered, and they set up a time to meet at the typewriter shop this week.
"He's such a nice unassuming guy, he's got no pretense, he's not acting like a diva or anything," Jackson said. "He was asking about my wife's life, career, asking about my son's school and what he does."
Tom even put in a couple of orders with Kirk.
"It's really great to meet your heroes and for them to exceed your expectations," Jackson said.
