Last night I went and saw Frank Deford speak at a book signing.  I have gone an seen a lot of these author books signing things.  I have never been to one like this.  Usually the author is ten to twenty minutes late.  They get ushered in by the store employees, who act like press agent/body guard.  They stand up and either read or answer question.  The questions are always the same "How do you get your ideas?",  "When  your book XYZ got made into a movie blah blah blah."


This was totally different.  I was there about 20 minutes early and looking around at books.  I sat down to get a good seat.  Then Mr Deford walks in to the room by himself.  There is a rack of his latest book and several others.  He says "Hey look at that!"   So He wanders around looking at some books an sits down at the desk set up for him.  He just start chit chatting with the few people there.  He was just a regular guy.  His latest book is a memoir about the early days of sports-writing.  The book  came out on May 1 and will be reviewed in the New York times this Sunday.  He was tell us if it gets a good review He'll be on the road a long time.  If it gets a bad review he goes home early.  He was listing where all he'll be in the next few weeks.  It included a bunch of Morning News shows and radio shows.   He was saying by the end of a book tour you don't know where you have been or who you have talked to.


Later the bookstore people show'd up to "handle" him.  They started having he sign some of the books for people not there who had requested them.  The lady reads the name and he signs the book.  This is going along and he signing away.  By this time it is about 7:40.  The room is filling up.  The lady reads "This one is for Dave Logan."  Everyone goes "Oooooh!"  (Dave Logan is a local guy who played for the Cleveland Browns.  He is now "The Voice of the Broncos".  He does the play by play for the local radio station that broadcasts the games.  He coached a big High School football team.  If John Elway is the king of Denver Football, Dave Logan is the Prince.)  Mr Deford looks up and says "Who is that?"  People start telling him.  Then one guy says "You were on his radio show on Monday".  Deford laughs and says "See I already don't know who I've talked to!" He laughs us who have been the since he got in laugh.  He had this twinkle in his eye like saying "See folks I already got an inside joke for you."

He told a bunch of stories and then signed books till after the store closed.  Really quite a guy.

He said that in the 70's the magazine business was just like on "Mad Men"  Where guys drank and smoked a whole bunch and women were... well "Dames."