August
It all really began at a Dollar Tree. I was there picking up a couple of odds and ends, on a replenish errand, when I walked past the almost always weak-ass book section. Generally at a Dollar Tree, this is where you find overstock, and more often than not it will be of the less than quality variety. This is usually the case, but when it isn't, its the exception to the rule.
Charlie Newton has burned a path as a cult crime writer of some aplomb. He's been doing it for years and the reviews show he knows what he is doing. There, stuffed between some Fox News host's inept attempt at musing and 35 copies of Victor Cruz' autobiography, there was a hardcover copy of Start Shooting. Genuinely surprised to see it there, I plucked it from the chaff and headed to the check out.
It wasn't until a couple weeks later when I cracked it open that I saw his broad looping signature on the title page. That's a tad stunning, I thought to myself... I didn't think much of it and after not being able to confirm whether or not it was his scrawl there, (there's no real reason to doubt it is) I put it away. I just thought I got lucky.
September
Over the years, I had somehow lost Bart Starr's nifty autobiography, My Life in Football. It had managed to become a possessional apparition of mine that's absence was nagging at me a bit. No true history-loving Green Bay Packers devotee should be without this tome. On Amazon.com, I found a hardcover original of it, for .01 plus shipping. Shocked to see the item that cheap, I acted without delay to order it. Since it was ordered via the Marketplace and not the site's warehouse, it took weeks to arrive. When it finally did, I was truly surprised by the excellent condition of the book, and opened it quickly to examine it, beginning the usual search for yellowing, ripped pages, stains, etc.
There it was on the title page. In this particular case however, my heart skipped a beat;
"To Dennis, Bart Starr".
There was no mistaking the great one's signature. I don't know who the hell Dennis is, (if that is his real name) but, Oh, it was Bart's autograph to be sure. I ran to the web to confirm anyway, and was proven right. Now THAT is a piece to be happy about. Talk about the luck that was starting to flow here....I now had a signed copy of the living legend, who while coached by the great Vince Lombardi, had won 5 titles in 7 years. Bart had held this book in his hands and wrote in it.
Now it's mine.
August
The local Public Library's Friends sale is a heck of a cause and occasion, and the wife and editor usually visit annually. It was the final day of the event, which means you get to fill a standard grocery bag with books for a mere $10.00. Frani and I had a couple of bags filled up to the brim level, and I had noticed a copy of Richard Stark's Backflash on one of the many tables. Now Stark's name is not one that graced many covers at this event, so I picked it up and pointed it out to Frani.
"Pity. I've read this one." I mumbled.
Frani looked at me in the way she usually does when I'm being a moron and said, "Just toss it in, it's $10.00 a bag." I shrugged and tossed in the book by the great Donald E. Westlake's alter-ego and continued to browse. It wasn't until I opened the book just before shelving it that I saw, above the title on that page, Donald E. Westlake's signature.
Off to the net I returned and confirmed it. The great mystery/crime/suspense legend's scribbled name was there above his nom de plume, and real. Holy Shit, folks. This was getting weirder by the minute.
November
I like to frequent Half Price Books. More often than not, I don't get anything. But I do like to sift through the vinyl that smells like a 70's basement. The DVD selection is frequently compelling, they have a selection of vintage books, (though more often than not those are less than interesting), you'll find VHS tapes that need to be browsed through as I search for that evasive copy of 1982's Tom Skerrit/Patti LuPone epic, Fighting Back, and also existing there is the DVD clearance rack. There's a reason it's a clearance rack, but I've found many a gem in these sections, usually priced at $1.00 to $2.00. One day, the Criterion Collection's disc of Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy joined that category.
Spotting this autograph was accidental. The movie popped open, and the film's accompanying leaflet got stuck in the case when I attempted to snap it closed. Remedying the issue, I spotted it.
Jason "Jay & Silent Bob" Mewes' signature was emblazoned on the leaflet. Back to the internet to confirm again, and confirmed it was. Someone at a convention took the film to get signed by Jay, then pawned it off at a Half Price Books.
I don't get it either, but there it is. Definitely a weird one, there.
December
I mentioned VHS tapes earlier. Goodwills and Salvation Armys are good places to look for these. There's a couple flicks out there, like the affore-mentioned Fighting Back, that have sacreligiously never been released on DVD. Like Corey Haim searching for the other copies of Batman #14 in The Lost Boys, I remain vigilant.
Breezing through the books as a lark at a Salvation Army, I came across a hardcover copy of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone. It is simply a collection of short-story-ized episodes of the seminal show put together by Walter Gibson. Neat enough, I thought, and grabbed it for the staggering cost of .75.
When I got home an opened it, there it was. The piece de resistance of cover page dedications...
Rod Serling?
No.
William Shatner?
No.
Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson, .... Ray Bradbury?
No.
Dated Christmas Day, 1983 was the inscription:
"To my good friend, Phil. A True Homo.
-Mamph"
Can't win 'em all, I guess is the lesson in this instance. This stunning display of bro-tolerance from 26 years ago has contributed, at the very least, in me looking at the inside of every book I come across.
Author's signature? It's a possibility. An actor or director involved in some form or fashion of the work purchased? Perhaps.
Or just a half-assed attempt at homophobic and unfunny character slaughter from one bud to another. Who knows?
But, for yet another reason, I remain vigilant.
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