An Encounter with Greatness
In my freshman year at college, in 1963, not long after JFK's assassination, my roommate and I drove up to San Francisco for the weekend. We spent most of our time wandering around the North Beach area, Chinatown, and other notable parts of the city. I was still very upset by JFK's assassination and had begun reading in areas I had not read before.
So, before we left town to return to our dorms and our freshmanly business, we stopped in at City Lights Bookstore, where I wandered around, looking at books I wouldn't find in my sleepy college town. There was lots to see. I finally settled on a copy of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Her. I can't say exactly why, but that's what I pulled from the shelf.
So I went up to the desk to pay for it, put the book on the counter and fished for my wallet. I didn't really pay a lot of attention to my surroundings. "Would you like me to sign that for you?" I heard. I looked up. The person asking was Lawrence Ferlinghetti himself. I recognized him from the photo on the book's cover. "Yes, thanks," I said, dimly. Not my usual situation and I was more than a little addled by this.
I paid for the signed book, we drove back to our college town, and I started reading. I didn't enjoy the book a lot, frankly, but it started me off in search of other new writers and other new ideas, and began a series of changes that have made a huge difference in my life. A small event, but with very long legs.
