posted 02-05-2004 07:02 PM               

I've been asked this question before as an avid space buff and collector. In thinking back throughout 35+ years or so, my very first autograph came from, no other than the elusive and usually non-signer, Bill Anders!

My Dad had just retired from the Air Force in 1968 and moved the family, when I was 12, to Florida's Space Coast on Merritt Island, home of NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Launch Complex 39. My parents purchased a home on the south-side of the Island in which the street, at that time, was a dirt road.

Our next door neighbor was one of the original Space Task Group workers (retired) and his daughter worked at KSC's Flight Crew Training Building where all the Apollo flight crews were in constant training around the clock. She knew, even at my early age, that I appeared to be very interested and enthusiastic when talking about rockets, space travel and the astronauts.

One day in early/mid Dec. 1968, she brought over for me my first astronaut autograph ever... an Apollo 8 crew-patch cachet cover (also my first-ever space envelope even though it was never stamped or postmarked) autographed especially for me, she said, by Bill Anders while he was taking a break from simulator training where she worked as a branch secretary.

Within a short period of time from receiving that gift from her, of course, Anders was on his way to orbiting the moon along with crewmates Frank Borman and Jim Lovell. I still have that autographed cover and I consider it one of my best autographs of Anders.

posted 02-05-2004 07:23 PM               

I was so dumb back then, I didn't know collectors' groups existed. It was Vivian White that explained to me that Neil didn't sign philatelic material. I actually spoke to Neil Armstrong on the phone then.

posted 02-05-2004 08:49 PM               

My grandfather was a station master/post master for almost 50 years at a large railroad terminal in New York. He collected autographs from Presidents, entertainers and notables such as Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, New York sports legends, even Einstein and Walt Disney who drew a crude Mickey Mouse sketch on one page. This collection got me hooked.

I started writing to people personally back when it was relatively easy. I remember seeing an ad in the Pen and Quill magazine where for $5 you could send away for a NASA crew litho and the address of the three Apollo 11 astronauts -- or send them $100 for one already signed by the crew. There was no way I could save up $100 any time soon working for minimum wage, plus I was looking forward to the challenge.

The information I received stated that Neil Armstrong was for sure the best bet for a quick response. When I arrived home from school, just a few days after I mailed the photo, my mom said that Neil Armstrong's office had called! Apparently my photo arrived bent and they wanted to know if I cared if it was replaced with a different picture -- a single photo of Mr. Armstrong(WSS).

For whatever reason my mom told the lady who called that I was really looking forward to having the entire Apollo 11 crew signed photo in my collection, but the photo of Mr. Armstrong would be wonderful just the same. Exactly four days later two signed photos came to me with Neil Armstrong's return address -- a new crew litho AND a signed WSS (as well as my bent photo!).

posted 02-05-2004 09:04 PM               

A little later in school -- some 25 years ago -- I was introduced to the Who's Who books... and thought, "Now who, of all these famous people in the world, would I want to write to?" You guessed it: Ol' Flash himself. I sent my letter off to him in Arizona and about a week later was thrilled to get an envelope from him. I opened it with great anticipation, and was amazed to see a handwritten note on a 3x5 card. He thanked me for my kind letter, and then told me that he was sorry he could not send me an autographed photo.

Due to the cost to produce quality photos and postage, he wrote, he only answers requests for signed photos if the person sends along $7. (I am not kidding. Crabbe charged seven big ones, 25 years ago -- so he had a head start on all of them!)

I pulled together the cash, put it in an envelope and got the photo. That Christmas, I "ordered" one for my Dad, in which Crabbe signed it to my Dad from me and from "the ol' Flash." Priceless. But also my introduction to the world of "pay to play." I was hooked... and space themes and sci-fi were my thing!

That followed with letters to Tom Baker of Doctor Who fame, Carl Sagan as I was hooked on Cosmos, Issac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and on and on.

Which ultimately lead to astronauts! My first astronaut was Neil Armstrong. I found his address in Who's WHo and wrote to him, asking to interview him for our school paper. I got a nice note back from Vivian telling me that, do to the volume of requests, Mr. Armstrong could not help me with my request, but hoped I would accept the signed photo instead. What a classy touch: I didn't even ask for it.

This first astronaut autograph is also my first great regret: Due to a cash shortage on my part a few years ago, I sold the photo via RR Enterprises and got a whopping $300 for it. It was a signed WSS litho, in blue, uninscribed -- and a great signature! The only "fault" was a paperclip indention on the upper left hand side. Oh, the humility and regret!!!

posted 02-05-2004 10:10 PM               

On edit: It just occurred to me that my first astronaut autograph was not Runco... it was Jeff Ashby. First time I ever went to Florida was to see STS-93 launch (well, I saw it get scrubbed!). And right next to our car on the causeway was one of Jeff Ashby's best friends. I'm still friends with her 5 years later. And a month after he got back from his rookie flight, in my mail appeared a well inscribed photo from him to me, via her surprise request.

It also happens to be the only non-in-person autograph I display on my website.

posted 02-05-2004 10:30 PM            

I was working with a guy who left a job to work in corporate communications for Centel Communications, a firm in the suburban Chicago area. He said Jim Lovell was CEO of the company. Before he left to start work on the job I gave him a Life magazine and asked to get Mr. Lovell to autograph it. It got sent back to me about a month later, with my former fellow employee saying he did not sign that type of thing but that he provided his own picture for the autograph.

posted 02-05-2004 11:34 PM               

We went on the tour, and we were going through the building where all of the Skylab training mockups were located (where the shuttle/ISS training hardware is located now). As we were going through the building, I saw Pete Conrad, I have always had a hard time being quiet when I get excited and yelled pretty loudly, "Holy crap, that's Pete Conrad!" He heard, (I think half of JSC must have heard) turned around and walked over to us!

I was sure I was going to get in trouble for being loud and disrupting training, not at all. He stated laughing and asked my name and chatted with our group for a couple of minutes. Then he leaned down and asked me if I wanted an autograph. He signed my Vistor's guide, laughed and walked off.

I don't think I stopped talking about it for months. That autograph was the only one I had until I was 33 and found out through this website that you could write to an astronaut and get an autograph or heck even buy one!

posted 02-06-2004 01:12 AM               

I've since learned that Mr. Shepard could be quite moody and not always the most polite person, and apparently I caught him on one of his "off" days. He signed my book and when I asked if he'd sign my 1959 Life magazine, he looked at me as if I had 10 heads before turning down my request.

Undeterred, I got back in line (there were maybe 50 people there to meet him) and I was the last person in line. I asked him to sign my magazine again and he reluctantly agreed.

I then extended my hand to shake his and received a look similar to the one mentioned above. He reached out with his left hand and squeezed my right hand as if to say "I'm too important to give you the satisfaction of shaking hands with me."

posted 02-06-2004 01:29 AM               

It was one of the I-Con science-fiction conventions in Stonybrook, NY - Deke Slayton and Georgy Grechko were there. At the time (1991) I was more into autographs than writing, so it never occurred to me to transcribe their talks or interview them (I got a second chance with Grechko when he was in Toms River, NJ in 1993.)

Slayton signed my NASA astronaut bio booklet, dated June 1986 (which I still have) and a NASA photo of him, Leonov, and I think Brand from ASTP. This was back in the "dark days", and I had the print made from a NASA negative I had - I might have even slipped it into another, unmarked slide holder to pass it through the photo place's inspection.

For whatever reason, they weren't sure how to print it, so they printed it twice, one normal, the other reversed. The quality was lousy compared to digital and Otofo now, but I still have that photo, and later got Leonov to sign it through Hankow, I believe.

I remember frantically looking for something for Grechko to sign - and I finally located a copy of Newkirk's Almanac of Manned Soviet Spaceflight. I opened it up to the entry with his first flight, and when he saw it, he exclaimed, "Soyuz!"

There ensued a frantic flipping of the book by Grechko, enthusiatically jabbering, with his interpreter trying to catch up.

Not only did Grechko sign the book in Cyrillic and English, but he also gave me a business card, which he also signed, when I mentioned that I wanted to send him a copy of the book (which I did, after frantically scouring NYC for a second copy!)

posted 02-06-2004 08:11 AM               

Once we got to DC the protesters went one way, and I went to the Smithsonian to see Freedom 7, then walked over to the staging area for the parade. There sat a Lunar Rover!! While I was taking a picture of it I heard a voice say "It's really a blast to drive that baby on the moon..." sure enough it was Gene Cernan!

I asked him to sign the cover of a space model I had bought at the Smithsonian store and he took the box with him into a tent, came back with a crew signed box cover... and Ron Evans right behind him (Dr. Schmitt was sick and stayed in the tent) and we talked for about 10 minutes on the mission of Apollo 17. I could have asked a million questions, but they had to go.

The box got framed, and was stolen about five years later from my house. I still remember quite vividly how cool Gene was to just come up and talk to some kid who he didn't know from a bag'a dirt!!

posted 02-06-2004 09:22 AM               

First, I was at the press mound chatting with a pretty petite woman (rather small talk) while we were standing in the background watching the live broadcast with Cene Cernan. I commented to the woman that it was cool to see so many astronauts in one place. I asked her if she had gotten any autographs from them and I remember her telling me that she was not "into" that.

A few minutes later she politely excused herself -- she was summoned to the interview table -- on my gosh -- I had been talking to Sally Ride!

Later, I saw Cernan sprinting through the press mound area and I quickly asked him for an autograph. Just as quickly he said "NO KID NOT NOW" because he had an "emergency" to attend to -- I turned to see him entering one of the many portable toilets on site.

posted 02-06-2004 10:02 AM               

I played high school football for our town. We had an ok year finishing in the middle of the pack. Every year we had an end of the season football team banquet.

We didn't expect much except dinner and a few speeches about the team from the coaches, so you can imagine our surprise when in walks John Glenn and Alan Shepard. They both gave talks on their missions (Shepard had walked on the Moon in February). I was amazed, but most of the other guys didn't really care or understand (walking on the moon was such a mundane thing back then).

Shepard left immediately after the speech, but left a bunch of signed photographs for us. John Glenn did stay after the dinner and sat with about eight of us at a table and talked about flying in space for about an hour. He signed for us. Then the host came back and said they had to leave. It was a wonderful experience.

posted 02-09-2004 09:48 AM               

The first that I obtained myself were two years back, when I got my copies of "Lost Moon", "The All-American Boys", "The Way of the Explorer" and Glenn's Autobiography signed by mail. I'm glad I did that when I did, given that the number of signers by mail continues to dwindle. (Book tours by Astros rarely make it here to the Great White North, or even to Buffalo across the river, so mail is usually the only option).

posted 02-09-2004 10:34 AM               

I had been collecting space stuff ever since Shepard's Mercury flight. Primarily, magazines and print literature, plus a few phonograph records and odds/ends. Anyway, come 1985 or 86 I get this odd idea that maybe I can get some of the guys to sign the covers of my magazines. I try John Young first.

posted 02-14-2004 12:29 AM               

I thought that this was a valuable and successful project, and full of pride that a namesake did it.

When I should have been napping I poured my heart out in a multipage letter, I'm afraid in very bad hand writing, to Steve Smith. I sent it simply to NASA, Houston, Texas, ATTN Astronaut Steve Smith figuring it would never be seen. I complimented Steve Smith and the team, and poured out my long love affair with Space Exploration.

Needless to say I was surprised and thrilled months later when one of those famous brown NASA envelopes arrived, and my wife asked what the heck this was. Astronaut Smith sent me several personalized autograph pictures. One is to me by name "From a namesake and the entire Astronaut Corp, Steve Smith".

The other is a wonderful picture of Steve Smith on an EVA repairing Hubble, inscribed to me saying "Steve Smith, I wish there was enough room on Hubble for both of us; Steve Smith".

To top it off, some time later I ordered some 40th anniversary Mercury memorabilia from Ken Havekotte. I was surprised to find a piece of flown scrap liner from STS-82 in my delivery, free of charge. My first flown piece. It is wonderfully framed with a STS-82 mission patch, and the above picture. A treasure to me. I have to think it was divine intervention that led this to me.

posted 02-14-2004 04:47 PM               

I have recently purchased a beautiful Premiere Space Edition 16x20 framed "visor" print signed by Buzz Aldrin (didn't pay their retail though - got it for a steal!), Then I bought what I thought was an authentic Neil Armstrong and thanks to you folks and the folks at R&R Enterprises, I discovered it wasn't. The eBayer did in fact refund me my FULL amount paid.

posted 02-16-2004 02:50 PM               

I'm actually not sure who my first serious through the mail was but it was some one who was free in 1998, I'm sure it was either Hartsfield or Brand.

My first in person was Dick Gordon at Autographica 2000, then Walt Cunnigham, then Ed Mitchell and last was Al Bean