For many admirers, a personally signed autograph is a treasured keepsake. For over fifty years I avidly accumulated these bits of personalized ephemera. It all began when my Father stopped our car on the way to my grandmother’s home in Independence, Missouri, one day. Dad spotted a strolling Harry Truman and the ex-president paused to sign an old envelope for me. He pleasantly autographed the scrap, patted me on the shoulder and strolled on with only two (as I remember) suited gentlemen tagging along behind him.
I accumulated hundreds of autographs over the next decades either gathered in person or by mail in most cases, and that gave me a sense of personal acquaintance with these notable men and women. As with many of my collections, I have given most of that one away in the past few years and now others can share that sense personal connection I had.
