It was March 1955. At 7:30am, I was cruising west on Sunset Boulevard heading for Life magazine’s photo lab on the Strip. Coming down Laurel Canyon was a crazy motorcyclist who was driving though a red light. We were on a collision course. We both braked and careened through the intersection. I came close to killing him - just a few inches saved his life. I stuck my head out the window screaming profanities as he got off his bike with a dopey grin on his face. It was James Dean. - Phil Stern, on how he first met Dean.