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Who Was Your First?

It was the summer of 1981. My family and I were vacationing in Wildwood, New Jersey. We were staying at the El Coronado Resort. I noticed that there was a film crew in the pool area. Phil Esposito and Sugar Ray Leonard were being interviewed.

I immediately ran to the lobby to ask for a piece of paper and a pen. The woman behind the desk supplied me with my necessary autograph materials. She knew exactly what this 11-year-old kid was up to. She smiled as she handed them to me. “Good luck!”

I was able to achieve Phil Esposito’s autograph that day. I was not successful with Sugar Ray Leonard, but both athletes made themselves available for photographs with me and my sister.

While attending graduate school at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 1991, I met a friend who was a fan of the opera. We visited Lincoln Center, and we waited in the parking garage near the stage entrance to meet Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. Each tenor autographed my criminal law textbook on separate occasions.

My Placido Domingo autograph (top) and Luciano Pavarotti autograph (bottom). Both tenors autographed my criminal law textbook in the parking garage at Lincoln Center back in 1991.

As autograph collectors, we often purchase new acquisitions. We often sell old acquisitions. Old favorites are often replaced by new favorites. But we never forget our first. Who was your first?

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Comment by Nick Dimeo on July 26, 2022 at 6:33pm: The ultimate opportunity for an 80’s kid to acquire a celebrity autograph was the Car Show that rolled into every big city Civic Center once a year. A kid could get the opportunity to sit in the KnightRider “KIT” car or even the A-Team van and than go and get an autograph of some 80’s (B list) celebrity such as “Downtown” Julie Brown or the kid who played Bud Bundy.

Being a kid of under 10 I was a big fan of the short lived series The Wizard so I was ecstatic when it was announced the star of the show little person David Rappaport was coming to the Philly Car Show. I stood in line for what felt like hours (ok, maybe 20 minutes) waiting for the autograph of my beloved little person. I finally got up to Rappaport and without any fanfare he signed my pre-purchased 8x10 and than his handlers ushered me out like Ralphie going to see Santa Claus.

I was so proud of that autographed 8x10 for years keeping it tacked to my boyhood room wall. It was a very unhappy childhood experience being told that Rappaport committed suicide by my two older brothers who mocked my choice of autograph since the day I got it. My brothers were the typical 80’s jocks like the bad guys in Revenge of the Nerds or Chet from Weird Science. I was so ashamed of the whole situation that I ripped up the 8x10 and moved on to being a fan of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose where I ultimately got Corin Nemec’s autograph at the 1990 Philly Car Show.

Comment by Mike Shepherd on July 26, 2022 at 9:38pm: That was a wonderful personal story, Nick. Thank you so much for sharing it. Hopefully your brothers experienced the same epiphany that Andrew Clark did in The Breakfast Club. Take care.

Comment by Martin Peters on July 27, 2022 at 5:33am: After reading in the newspaper that Larry Fine of the Three Stooges had passed away in January, 1975, I sent an autograph request to Moe Howard. I received a preprinted letter along with two small B&W photographs of the Stooges. On one of the photos Moe had handwritten his name as well as the names of Larry and Curly. My first "in-person" was several years later when I met Harry Chapin after a concert in Ames, Iowa.