Specific people as special interests

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In the past as a child I had several special-interests that arose because the person was my role-model and/or I found his/her life interesting and then it morphed ito this giant fixation/special interest for at least 1 academic year. This manifested itself by me learning about and thinking about and writing about this person ALL THE TIME. Targets of my special interests have been Helen Keller, John F. Kennedy, and lately a rather well-known person on the spectrum (happened as I was researching ASD around my recent diagnosis).

My questions around this are:

If you have had a fixation/interest about a certain person, did you later realize why?

If said target of your fixation/interest is still living, do you feel like a creeper for knowing all about their life (even if it's just from books/documentaries).

Other thoughts?

I used to get that way about The Beatles, and while they were out of fashion I felt rather nerdy for doing it, though it didn't stop me. It subsided eventually, though I'm still interested in stuff about them......I've seen websites full of people who are as obsessional about them as I used to be, so I don't feel silly about it any more, because it's less intense and because I know I'm not the only one by a long chalk.

But they're about the only famous people I've been especially interested in. I get very interested in people I know, if we seem to do particularly well socially or working together. I think it's mostly because I know if I want to relate to them I need to know a lot about them, and because I have a lot of trouble in fathoming another human being, I have to take a lot of time out to think about them and piece it all together. And I'm still frequently aghast at my "blind spots," i.e. all the things I hadn't thought to ask about or consider. Somehow I just don't seem able to ask many questions about them, though when my mood is right I can do quite well.

Sure, my favorite singers or actors.

I'm like that, about the original line up of a certain group, yes.

Let me guess... The Kinks!! !

Anyways, I had an obsession with John Lennon that had a duration of approximately two years, and before that I was obsessed with John F. Kennedy for four or five years.

While celebrities have not been my special interests, I have held special interests in people that are closer to home. I would love to know what causes this, since it has caused me a lot of grief over the years.

A few people that have been a special interest include my best friend from middle school, the baskbetball player friend that got assaulted the first year that we were out of high school, and my childhood friend who was the mayor of his community during a devestating flood. There have been a few others that the interest has been more minor.

These people have had lives or involved in situations that provided a lot of stimuli, or were someone that I admired. I admired my best friend from middle school due to how he pulled himself up by the bootstraps to become a successful person and mentor in his community. I often wondered how he did it. In the case that my friend was beat up, I tried to learn everything I could about comas, brain surgeries, and the court case that was involved. Strangely, I found my mayor friend to be somewhat repulsive at one time (long story), he did include me in the decision making process of rebuilding his community.

That brings me to another thing. These people all provided acceptance toward me at a moment in my life. Transversely, that acceptance turned into an impass toward me. Basically, with the exception of one or two of these people, they quit talking to me and corresponding with me, sometimes with terse overtunes when I tried to contact them. I think that sometimes my interest and obsession with them fueled this. Where as they wanted more of a casual acquaintance, I wanted something more from them.

Yeah, I got that way with my fourth and fifth grade teacher (who was the same person), and to a lesser degree, a few other people. I wish I could apologize to my teacher though, I kind of borderline stalked her a bit.

I just realized that I haven't really had any special interests in a while. I actually kind of miss them.

Same here.

I've never obsessed over a person to that degree before. Even when I do obsess over a person, it's usually someone I know personally.

Anne Frank. I don't feel like a "creeper." Before she died, she decided to release her diaries publicly after the war after hearing a radio broadcast about collecting journals.

I used to be obsessed with Queen Elizabeth I.

No public figure has ever sufficiently appealed to me in that way.

I do obsess over my gf rather badly. I think its beyond the normal being in love stuff. But she is the same about me.