A Tremendous Thing in a Small Package

I'll begin this saga with the eponymous package:

The black bars over my last name and address were not part of the original, obviously, but the black and white grid pattern was.

To the unsuspecting eye, this may seem like a pretty uninteresting piece of mail. I, however, squealed when I saw it and felt my heart beat a little faster. I carefully snipped it open, hands practically shaking with anticipation, because I knew that it was going to contain this:

"To Beth, With thanks and best regards, David Mitchell, Clonakilty, 2012"

!!!!!!

I must confess that even now, about a week after I receive the book, I'm still sort of at a loss for words.

Here's how it happened: Some of you may remember reading a post I wrote in October about a Selected Shorts program hosted by David Mitchell. I gushed about how wonderful he is and how much I enjoyed hearing him speak, but also how disappointed I was that he was unable to do a book signing because of his flight plans. But I resolved to move on. I read the book I'd intended to have him sign - usually I hardly touch these after they're autographed to keep them in pristine condition - and figured I'd just try to go see him again some day. Ed's mother, who is more proactive, had other ideas.

Ed's mom often reads my blog, and when she stumbled upon this particular post she decided to take action (for which I will always be grateful). Somehow she tracked down David Mitchell's publicist and sent him the link to the post I had written. The publicist wrote back to her and said that she would forward the link to Mr. Mitchell and see that I got a signed book in the mail! Ed, who was (I think) privy to this plan before his mother heard back from the publicist, did not tell me about it until she had received confirmation. As you can probably imagine, elated does not begin to describe how I felt. I eagerly watched the mailbox for the next week, and then the week after that. The package did not arrive.

When it finally arrived, I'd almost forgotten about it. I was expecting a sterile-looking envelope with a typed label and a copy of the book with an impersonal signature - the sort of thing a publicist might pull from a stack of signed copies and tell an intern stick in the mail. So I was taken a bit aback at the hand addressed (and decorated!) envelope shipped straight from Clonakilty, Mitchell's home in Ireland! Honestly, I'd probably have been pretty satisfied with just that. But the hits kept on coming. As you can see, Mr. Mitchell must have spent a good few minutes adding curlicues and other artistic touches to the cover page of my book, even taking the time to spell my last name correctly. 

I was still processing all this when I turned to the note he'd written:

Dear Beth, This is just to thank you for your generous and tremendously encouraging words about my appearance at Symphony Space. Sorry I had to dash off to the airport afterwards - 747s wait for no-one - but I hope our paths can cross the next time I'm in New York. Warm Regards, David Mitchell

Practically delirious with delight, I handed the note to Ed, who promptly stopped grinning at me. He informed me curtly that my "path would not be crossing" Mr. Mitchell's without his strict supervision. My observation that Mr. Mitchell is both a husband and father did not lessen his resolve to personally oversee the preservation of my honor. Good grief.

It's truly wonderful to discover that a famous person one admires is kind, humble, and generous. I, too, hope our paths cross again (under Ed's watchful eye, of course) so that I can thank him for this, and I'm incredibly grateful to Ed's mother as well. My next book signing, scheduled for February, will likely feel a bit disappointing after this. But it's worth it.