I’m pretty sure I was majorly obnoxious and obtrusive when I met Richard Gere.  It was the late 80’s in Manhattan and my friend Lori and I were walking back from a fun (and I’m sure alcohol-fueled) evening out, when we saw Richard Gere.   

Now I’m not sure if we saw him walk INTO the building with his friend or if we saw him through the glass entry doors sitting in the lobby with his friend. What I DO know is that we brazenly walked right up to him and his friend while they were talking on a bench at the back end of the lobby.   

Lori was giggling and effusive; Richard was calm and polite.  I asked him for an autograph, and he said he would give me one if I donated $10 to (I forget which cause; but I’m guessing something to do with Tibet House, which he founded about that time).  My shameless reply?  “Can you go upstairs and get me a photo?  Because if so, yeah, I’ll give you $10”.  (I assumed we were in HIS apartment building lobby.)  

He looked at me quizzically and unperturbed, replying in the negative.  He might have also mentioned that we were interrupting a private conversation. We walked away shrugging and laughing. The hubris of my drunk twenty-something self! It was definitely not my best moment. 

These autographs of Richard were obtained later from collection purchases.  I’m not sure of authenticity on the gold-pen signatures (possibly secretarial), but I’m pretty confident that the younger photo is his true signature.  And I love that early pic the best, because it reminds me of his character Tony in “Looking For Mr. Goodbar”, which initially put Richard Gere on my radar in a truly visceral way.