To: WSFAlist at keithlynch.net
Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2002 13:48:24 -0400
Subject: [WSFA] a brush with greatness (was: Clancy)
From: ronkean at juno.com
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

On Sat, 17 Aug 2002 15:28:21 -0400 (EDT) "Keith F. Lynch"
<kfl at KeithLynch.net> writes:

> I did go to Thursday's signing, and I was appalled.  People stood
> in line outdoors in 95 degree heat without water for two hours or
> more....
...  And even if he won't sign anything,
> at least I'd be able to chat with him for 30 seconds or so.
>
> But I wasn't even allowed near him.  Not just because of the store
> staff.  He has personal bodyguards!  I was made to feel very
> unwelcome.
>

I would expect that fans who show up at a Clancy signing would get the
short end of the stick.  There are likely to be just too many of them
there to be comfortably accommodated, whether in terms of being able to
even get into the place without a long wait in line, getting old books
signed, getting photo-ops, and getting close to, much less having a
chance to chat with, the celebrity.

Contrasting that with the Homer Hickam bookstore stop in Georgetown a few
months ago, where the audience of 25 or 30 had comfortable seating,
Hickam gave a nice talk, and was available for schmoozing after the talk
(and no bodyguards), one lesson may be that the less famous the
celebrity, the more pleasant and lower pressure the celebrity-meeting
experience.

As for the miscommunication about the ground rules for Clancy signing
books, I don't think there necessarily are any hard and fast rules set in
advance.  The bookstore worker you spoke with may have been thinking that
Clancy would do what many authors do - graciously sign up to several
books per visitor brought to the signing, even if those books were not
bought right then and there.

At least it sounds like Clancy is somewhat accessible via email and
newsgroups, and I suppose he sometimes benefits from the ideas and
stimulation he gets that way.

Ron Kean

.

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