Autographs — George and Brad Takei

 

George Takei spoke and signed books at an event in East L.A. this afternoon. After twenty minutes of one speaker introducing another who introduced another, with lots of thank yous, finally Takei answered prepared questions for about forty minutes, mostly about his latest books, They Called Us Enemy and My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story.

There were hundreds of attendees, many with multiple books they wanted signed. (It was announced in advance that he would not sign any Star Trek memorabilia or engage in conversation.) I was about at the halfway point in the signing line, and it was more than ninety minutes before I got to the front. As I waited, after a while, they said Takei would sign no more than three books per person. A bit later, they changed it to one book. And soon after that, they said he would only sign his name, no personalizations. I did also get his husband's signature.

Autographs — John Sayles

 

John Sayles spoke at Vromans Bookstore this evening.

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Autographs — The Yes Men

At Occidental last night, they showed the 2009 documentary The Yes Men Fix The World, and then the two Yes Men spoke, answered questions, and signed books.

I've always been torn about them. I appreciate their intentions, and they choose deserving targets, and sure, their "culture jamming" hoaxes are fun to hear about, but I don't like lying and tricking people, including news media. That affects innocent bystanders like me who rely on mainstream news being generally truthful.

Autographs — Tim Greiving

 

Tim Greiving spoke and signed books at Vromans last night.

Tim Greiving

I even brought my 'Celebrating John Williams' CD just in case Williams made a surprise appearance. Alas, he did not.

I also asked the first audience question: "If asked, would John Williams enjoy writing another Olympic fanfare for the 2028 games?" Greiving said yes. I hope LA28 asks.

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Autographs — Ted Chiang

 

Ted Chiang spoke at Occidental last night on "The Incompatibilities between Generative AI and Art."

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Autographs — Catherine Rhodes

Given my interests in linguistics, higher education, and Mayan culture, I would have to read this book. I would usually wait for it to be available at a library, but the very same announcement that brought the book to my attention offered more:

In January, Mérida English Library announced a book signing event for this book. But we would be arriving in Mérida five days later. I asked if they could hold a signed copy for me to pick up; they said yes, but then it wasn't until mid-February that they wrote to say they had a signed copy for me. We were back in L.A. by then.

I told them we would probably be back in Mérida in May or June and if they could hold a copy for me that long, I would buy it then. In mid-June we were in Mérida again, and I asked if there was a signed book I could buy. They said yes, but then said, actually, the two copies they had were not signed. They asked the author if she could stop by and sign them. She did, and, a few days later, I bought a signed copy.

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Autographs — Justin Torres

Justin Torres spoke at Occidental this evening. I haven't read the book yet, but given the subject matter and the appearance of many of the pages (see below), I'm surprised and impressed that it won the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction. 

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Autographs — Emily St. John Mandel

 

My book group discussed this author's Station Eleven in January 2019. I enjoyed it. This book, her newest, looks even more interesting. She spoke and signed books at the Los Angeles Central Library this evening.

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Autographs — Wil Wheaton

 

Wil Wheaton was scheduled to sign his new book at Vroman's on August 31^st:

I was there early. Quite a few folks came. Shortly after 7 pm, they apologized and said they were trying to contact him. After 7:30, they said they had no news. Just before 8, they said it wasn't going to happen. They also said they would try again, and they took our names, promising to notify us as soon as they knew more. As I wrote at the time, everyone hoped he was OK. The next day, he was posting on Facebook, with no mention of the book signing he had skipped.

On September 23^rd, I received an email saying that he would be at Vroman's on October 26^th “for real this time”. I would be out of town (Houston trip). I asked if I could drop off my book ahead of time and pick it up when I returned. I had to write three times before they answered, but they said OK, and that's what I did.

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Autographs — Sandra Cisneros

 

She was at Vromans, promoting her new poetry book. There was an overflow crowd, many with multiple books for her to sign.

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Autographs — Sandra Tsing Loh

 

Sandra Tsing Loh spoke at Occidental today, and was happy to sign this book. Now I have to read it! When I saw that she was coming to Oxy, I bought this, hoping to get her autograph.

I have read some of her essays, and before I retired, I often heard her short "The Loh Down on Science" pieces on the radio while commuting. Today, her talk was "The Loh Down on Writing". As expected, she was informative and entertaining.

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Autographs — Peter Alsop

 

My only composer autograph. I only recently remembered that I had an LP with an autograph. The album is from 1977. I don't recall the circumstances, but I think it might have been at USC. Here is his website.

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Autographs — David Leavitt

Unexpected autograph. During today's CicLAvia, I stopped by Libros Schmibros, and found this autographed book. So it's a new addition to the few autographed books I have where I never met the author.

I read several books by Leavitt years ago; I think I haven't read this one.

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Porn Star Autographs

And then there's my collection of gay porn star autographs!

These were gathered at two events, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, and the Bad Boys Pool Parties (BBPP) in the L.A. area.

I went to CES in January 1990 with a bunch of fellow Xeroids. Winter CES is "for the trade only," not open to the public. We got in as Xerox employees. We paid for the trip and accommodations ourselves. Then and now, CES is enormous. That year, it filled the Convention Center and parts of six hotels.  There were vast halls full of computer games, fancy home and car audio, video stuff of all sorts, calculators, security systems, and on and on.  

Best of all for me, one ballroom of one hotel was set aside for "Adult Video."   Yes, that means porn.  Of all varieties.  All these porn purveyors were there trying to convince retailers and video stores to stock their lines.  Most of them brought some of their "stars" (scantily clad, of course) to autograph photos, calendars, magazines, and posters.  I consider porn the highest and best use of video technology.

It was a great time to be an openly gay man.  There were l-o-n-g lines of men (no women to speak of) waiting for an autograph and a few words with the female stars, and there was no waiting at all for the male models who were there.  Most of them were delighted to talk and sign stuff.  I met and brought back many autographed publicity photos and posters. It was lots of fun.

It was also the only time I ever kissed a porn star. Joey Stefano was supposed to be at one booth, but every time I went by, he wasn't there. Finally, when he showed up, I got his autograph and then reached to shake his hand and say thanks. But he pulled my head down and deep kissed me!

The Bad Boys Pool Party was an annual AIDS fund-raiser event for several years. It was first in L.A. and then moved to the Palm Springs area. The porn stars were the draw. Here's Chase Hunter signing:

and here's a lineup of screen studs signing:

 Click here to see all of my porn star autographs.

Autographs — Deji Bryce Olukotun

Deji Bryce Olukotun has written novels, short stories and essays. He has one story in this collection. He read a great short excerpt from his latest book at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and I got his autograph afterwards.

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Autographs — Chisholm, Duretta, Lorino, Sisco

Nick Duretta is a personal friend, and a member of the book discussion group I'm in. He has a short story in this book. At the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books yesterday, I made sure to stop by the book's booth while Nick was there. I bought the book, and Nick and several other contributing writers signed my copy.

The autographs are from Sara Chisholm, Nick Duretta, Gabi Lorino, and Cody Sisco.

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Autographs — Nancy MacLean

This evening, I went to hear Nancy MacLean speak about her book. It's been on my reading list for a while. She gave an excellent overview, and I'm looking forward to reading the book.

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Autographs — David Kopay

In November, I read that Dave Kopay lived near Occidental and frequently walked his dog on campus. I bought his book and hoped to catch him and get his autograph. I had read the book when it first came out, but I had not bought it at the time.

I kept the book in my car. When I stopped by Oxy this morning to pick up several newspapers, I saw him and his dog; he was talking to someone. I hoped he would keep talking long enough for me to run back to my car and get the book. 

It all worked out. He said he had just mentioned the book to the woman he was chatting with, and here I was with it.

When his book came out in 1977, I was an officer of the gay student group at USC, and we arranged for him to speak on campus. I think it was his first public speaking engagement; I remember he was a bit nervous before the talk. It was an overflow crowd. Here is the ad:

(I always thought that was a great illustration, too. I don't know who the artist was.)

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Autographs ― Judith Branzburg

I've known Ivy Bottini for years. She's now 92 and there is a new biography / memoir. Today at ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, there was a celebration of Ivy and this new book and a farewell to Ivy, who is moving to Florida to live with her daughter.

I bought the book and managed to get Judith Branzburg's autograph, but the speeches went on and on, and, since I already have Ivy's autograph, I didn't try to stay and get her to sign this one.

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Autographs ― Édouard Louis

This young gay author from France spoke and signed books at the L.A. Central Library last night. I haven't yet finished reading this book. I also wanted to buy his first book, but they only had this one for sale. His next book, already published in France, also sounds interesting.

I was very impressed with his English. Yes, he has a French accent, but he speaks English fluently and quite rapidly, without pause. I wonder when he began learning English.

He has an unusual definition for a novel. He says the books are entirely factual, but he labels them novels because they are "constructed" and not simply linear histories.

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