Grazer, 68, said he was recently at a restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean and only saw that “everyone is on their phone.” Grazer and Salk remained friends until the doctor’s death in 1995. Salk calmly asked a waiter to get Grazer orange juice and kindly helped the producer clean up.

In the book, Grazer writes that he was so nervous about meeting Salk that when it finally happened at a hotel, he projectile vomited. “Face to Face” includes other Grazer encounters with a wide range of professionals, including Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, former President Barack Obama and Jonas Salk, developer of the polio vaccine. The last book he co-authored, “A Curious Mind,” became a New York Times bestseller. Grazer’s company, Imagine Entertainment, co-founded with director Ron Howard, would go on to produce the blockbuster “8 Mile,” starring Eminem, which is loosely based on the rapper’s life story. So, without that, there would be no movie of ‘8 Mile.’” And that became the basis of our entire movie. And, somehow, he came to life and he told the story of his life and how he ended up in this particular place right now, or achieved this particular place. “But then he eventually turned back and we had a conversation and he really looked at me with tremendous eye contact and we really connected on a human basis and he got very involved. Grazer urged the Detroit rapper to “animate,” which initially got a disapproving response. And, eventually, he just - and I’m pretty good at creating conversation - and he just eventually said, ‘I’m out. “I could not get his attention, even though he was there to talk to me,” Grazer recalled in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

A Curious Mind by Brian Grazer