I could have met him in Locarno but somehow I shied away from it - based on his (to me) slightly erratic behavior. Anyway, I wanted to keep him in my thoughts for what he achieved as a filmmaker. THUNDERBOLT & DEER HUNTER are among the best 70s films.
Regarding our forum: There's a Sam-story as well of course. Back in 1978 Cimino was a big Peckinpah fan. So Sam showed up on location and Cimino awarded him some "special award" for being the best filmmaker ever. But then they had a fall-out right there and then. Sam was pissed anyway - he was just dumped during CONVOY, he went few millions over budget and here he had to witness THE over-budget production of all times .