Mitch Albom, author of the best-selling "Tuesdays with Morrie," was scheduled to be the keynote speaker on the last day of the PRSA International Conference, which fell on a Tuesday (appropriately). Arising early to secure a good seat at his presentation,I asked one of the attendants for directions, and she pointed the way. I must have been the first one there, though a few other people trickled in.
I was feeling pretty good because I had a front row seat amongst hundreds of chairs in a huge auditorium. After a while, the attendant came back into the room and told the few of us seated that Albom's keynote address was actually in another room.
"Shit," I thought to myself, "I've probably lost my front row slot." Not to worry. I made haste to the next level and found another front row seat.
As anticipated, Albom's address was compelling: his repartee was funny, poignant, witty and sad, everything I expected it to be.
Afterward, I hustled to get a place in line for Albom's book signing. But once again, I got side-tracked onto another floor of this confusing hotel (The Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center), which is listed in Wikipedia as the largest in the Western Hemisphere. By the time I found the correct location, the line was already curling out of sight.
Fortunately, the queue moved along quickly, much like the lines at Disneyland. When I reached the front, he signed the inside flap of his book "For One More Day" (another fine piece of writing) and asked if I wanted it addressed to me by name.
"Yes, I replied, "and could you add 'Go Ducks?''
"Absolutely, you from Oregon?" he queried.
I nodded. Then he added, "You know, I really like Joey Harrington (former Duck quarterback who had a less-than-successful experience playing for the Detroit Lions)."
"You're probably the only one in Detroit who does," I replied, adding "I like him, too."
He smiled.
No comments:
Post a Comment