I was in 9th grade, and maybe it was the day we were going to dissect a frog in science class, when my friend Ray wanted to show me his binder of autographs. I was amazed to see that he had autographed (and some personalized) photos of people like Lucille Ball, Mae West, Mary Pickford (who?), Bette Davis, Carol Burnett and so many others. He had been collecting autographs for a while and told me it was great fun and so easy to hear back from the celebrities.  I wanted in on this hobby - and I embraced it. Big time. 

 

On May 18, 1979, I wrote my first fan letter to "Maids of the Joan Crawford Estate". I was 14 years old, I used a map of the Stars - the kind you would get on Hollywood Boulevard- and I asked if the maids would send me any autographs that happened to be lying around. Donald O'Connor, who actually lived at that address at the time on 426 North Bristol, may or may not have been amused by my request. I'll never know. 

 

However, in those first few months of collecting in 1979 my initial autograph replies came from the likes of Fred Astaire, Rock Hudson, Charlton Heston, Bette Davis, Shirley Temple, Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny), Kirk Douglas and more. I was hooked.  Here is the first page of my handwritten autograph log...

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