A Tube Full of Yoko
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007
Say what you will about Yoko Ono and her involvement with the Beatles’ break-up, but I still say she’s one of the kindest of all celebrities when it comes to appreciating her (and John Lennon’s) fans. She has consistently been full of surprises in the dealings I have had with her. As a mega-Beatles fan, I decided that one of the last autograph requests I would make during the Summer of 1985 was to Yoko Ono. On August 16, I sent only a self-address-stamped-envelope to Yoko – as I had no photos to send. Read the rest of this entry »
It was September 28, 1987 and I had gotten off the bus and was heading for home when I stopped off to get the mail. Inside the box was an envelope addressed to me from NASA. I wasn’t sure what this could be, but when I opened it up, I found a personally autographed color photo of the first man to step foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong. I was legitimately surprised to find this, as it had been more than two years since I had sent this request. It was, in fact, the sixth autograph request I had sent since starting full-force with the hobby early in 1985. 
Before I move into my two vacations in the Summer of ’85 (to Woodland Altars camp and to Florida), I wanted to touch on what were some fond memories from the Summer of ’85. Obviously, I was heavily collecting autographs during this time period as the concurrent postings indicate. And as we rolled into the warm weather, I, now being school-free, ramped up my efforts. I even created what I called my ‘autograph kit’ – it was a box that included my address book, postage stamps, the rubber stamp of my address, envelopes, notecards, and everything else I needed to complete a fan letter. 
This entry combines two events into one posting. One of the last successful autograph attempts I made in the Summer of 1985 was a request I sent to Sherman Hemsley (best known as George Jefferson on the TV show The Jeffersons) on August 16. Remarkably, it was not fulfilled until more than two years later…arriving on my birthday, October 2, in 1987! There were less than half of a dozen celebrities from this batch of Summer of ’85 autograph requests that I actually got the opportunity to meet sometime in the future and Sherman Hemsley was one of them. 
I’m not sure what prompted me to actually attempt writing to a former President, but I feel it was probably my most successful attempt to date. I sent my request to President Carter on August 14, 1985. Although his birthday was not until October 1st, I sent along a birthday card anyway, explaining that my birthday was one day after his – and it didn’t seem too far away. He responded by sending me the letter below along with a beautiful 8 x 10 photo on high-quality photographic paper. I received this on August 28 – and he apparently agreed that our birthdays didn’t seem too far away either – as you will note from the inscription.