Kalamazzo, MI. 2/19/05
A friend of mine and I attended one of the book signings - in this case at, of all places, a Wal-Mart. The line wound all over the store, even an hour before the signing began. We chatted it up with other fans in line and just hoped not to be turned away.
As we were waiting, a lady walked up to us to ask if we wanted our autographs personalized. I wanted mine personalized, so she wrote my name on a post-it and tucked it on a blank page in the book. After she left, I moved it to a pic of Hunter (one of the pics not used for the "Gym poster" released back in 02).
My friend got inspired as we neared the front of the line - he actually went into the tools section and came back with a sledgehammer. He didn't have the book and wasn't planning on getting anything signed, initially. This drew a lot of laughs and a little jealousy for no one else had throught to get one.
As we neared the front of the line, we were told they were only signing books and would sign memorabilita afterward. My friend stepped out of the line to let others through.
I had my book, I walked up, and I was crazy nervous. I completely forgot what I was going to ask him at that moment (I used to work out a lot, and I wanted to ask him his opinion on computerized negative resistance machines). Instead, I blurted out a query regarding a house show in Steubenville (OH) the prior week when I ALMOST met him, but security had chased us away just as he and Batista were unloading his SUV. He apologized, graciously and sincerely, and said it wasn't his idea.
By the time Hunter had finished signing books he was already 30 minutes over. One of teh Hebners had been corralling people and was reluctant to let people with memorabilia (read: autograph hounds and resellers) back through the line. HHH didn't think anything of it and let us through. Hebner just grumbled "ONE item a person, ok??"
So not only did I get my book autographed, I had him autograph a "Fountain" pic that I had blown up to an 8x10.
If I didn't say it there, Hunter, thanks again for sticking around.
LC