While O.J. Simpson made his last, desperate run on the freeways of Southern California Friday night, those whose lives he touched even briefly struggled to reconcile the two seeming irreconcilable images of the man: personable celebrity and accused double murderer.

As he watched the drama of Simpson’s flight from the law unfold on TV, Bangor Daily News Publisher Richard J. Warren recalled a chance meeting he had with Simpson a few years ago.

“I was en route to my stepbrother’s wedding in Chagrin Falls (Ohio) and when I got on a plane at Laguardia (airport in New York City) O.J. was sitting across the aisle from me,” Warren said.

“At the time, O.J. was on the way to Canton (Ohio) to be inducted into the Football Hall of Fame,” continued Warren. “We chatted a bit. He made the comment that he thought he was awfully young to have this happen to him.

“I said, `those of us who watched you play college football or pro football don’t think you’re too young to have this happen.’ ”

Warren said what struck him was the gracious way Simpson treated the strangers on the plane who felt compelled to come up to him.

“Almost everyone on the plane talked with him,” said Warren. “He was not a bit put out that his time was being taken up. A few people asked him for his autograph and he handled it very well.”

Warren could only shake his head at the strange turn Simpson’s life took this week.

“Having had that encounter with him and watching his broadcasting career, I was amazed,” said Warren. “You have to wonder what has driven him and his former wife so far apart that he would be driven to allegedly do what he’s accused of doing.”