In the few times they met over the years, Eden Prairie resident Rob Barrett said he always seemed to learn something new from Louie Anderson.

The meetings happened while both appeared as guests on the KSTP’s afternoon TV show, “Twin Cities Live.” Barrett was there doing cooking segments as part of his Cooking for Dads persona. Anderson, the legendary standup comedian and Minnesota native, was there to be funny. 

After Anderson died of blood cancer complications on Friday, Jan. 21, in Las Vegas, Barrett reminisced about the late comedian on Facebook. 

“The biggest lesson I learned from him was to be gracious and put others first,” Barrett wrote. “I remember my first time with him on the show. I was hanging around shyly afterwards trying to get a photo. Instead of me approaching him, he approached ME and asked if he could get a photo with me, motioning to the KSTP photographer. He had a way of making you feel so important.”

Barrett wrote a post on his blog in 2009 about cooking with Anderson instead of the normal host. 

Below is another local story about Louie Anderson from the SouthWest Transit Facebook page.