What a great story, jbarber!
I remember having read, at the time of the World Cup in Italy in 1990, that Matthus, the German player, had met Pel when he was a little child and Pel visited the sports factory (Puma or Adidas, I'm not sure) where his father worked. He held Pel's legs and said "I want to be like you".
It always amazed me how Pel is known everywhere. Wherever I go, when I say I am from Brazil, often his name comes to the people's mouths, be it in Fiji or Morocco.
Unfortunately I never saw him play live, but my early football memories is the World Cup in Mexico in 1970, when Pel scored some important goals and helped our team achieve its third world championship. Carlos Alberto, who was the team's leader then, also appears in that video (he talks to Pel in the interval between the 1st and the 2nd half).