OK...so here we go...
A couple weeks ago I got an email from WordPress letting me know I had a comment on that blog that needed approval. Of all the people who might comment on a blog about a fan letter I wrote to my favorite artist (and his reply back to me), I did not expect the comment to be from Sam Viviano himself. For real. The comment is there. Check it out. Not only did he stumble across my blog (I still wonder how he found it), but he also offered to replace the drawing he sent to me years ago that I eventually lost.
I emailed him back, thanking him for his comment and again thanking him for personally responding to his fan mail, unlike that robot Ricky Schroeder. (Yes, I also sent a fan letter to Ricky Schroeder, the then-star of NBC's Silver Spoons, back in the 80s. When I get an automated response in return and a black-and-white 5x7 picture with his autograph obviously stamped "Love, Ricky" I was a little less than enthused. And confused. I hadn't asked for a photo, much less one signed "Love.")
About a week after responding to Sam's blog comment, I received a manila envelope in the mail with a MAD Magazine address label on the front. It was two days before my birthday and a great way to kick off the weekend. Not only had Sam responded with yet another full-page handwritten letter but he also included another print of the very drawing he had sent to me nearly 20 years ago.
But wait, there's more! He also included two recent issues of MAD Magazine!
I mean seriously, how cool is this guy? He's someone with a lot more on his plate than me and still he goes out of his way to go above and beyond the call of duty for a complete stranger. I could learn something from this guy.
But first, I'm going to take a picture of myself with all the cool stuff he sent me. Pictures first, life lessons later.
5 comments:
awesome! too cool!
that's so awesome.
Ed- Likely Sam found your blog post the same way I did... via a "google alert". This is a cool feature of Google's where you get a daily email digest of any blog/webpage that newly adds a search term you specify. In may case my Google Alert for "Mad Magazine" led me to your blog post here.
And Sam is extremely cool... plus he has a tremendous singing voice.
Tom, I wondered if a Google Alert was indeed the secret. I actually signed up for a Google Alert on my own name a few years ago. Of course, I did it before I realized I wasn't famous and so I only hear from it when it lets me know I've posted a new blog. Ah, the circle of life.
[...] that Tom is the second MAD artist I’ve gushed about in the last three months (I wrote about my encounter with Sam Vivano back in December). Apparently there’s something about that publication that attracts good [...]
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