At 16, Karen struck up a conversation with a quiet gentleman wearing a unique fork-and-knife tie clip who was dining at the counter of the ice cream parlor where she was waitressing at the time. "America's Dining Champ" Fred E. Magel, who held the Guinness World Record for dining out, left her with this memento, stamped on a paper napkin. At that point (1978-79), "The Man Who Really Came to Dinner" had dined in 60 nations and at more than 30,000 restaurants.

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