I caught up with Mitch a couple of weeks ago at a book signing in Framingham, Massachusetts. Running late, I thought I would miss hearing Mitch talk about his new book, for one more day. Fortunate for me, Mitch was late too, having traveled down from Portsmouth, New Hampshire - just one more stop on his dizzying fall book tour. Mitch has over 50 book signings over the next three months.
When I walked in, a crowd had already gathered around the podium where Mitch was getting ready to greet the crowd. About 75 people huddled in close, all carrying multiple copies of Mitch's current book as well as copies of his prior works, Tuesday's with Morrie and the five people you meet in heaven. Mitch seemed truly thankful to all the people who had come out to see him . He apologized for being late and said he would stay as long as it took to meet everyone and sign as many books as we wanted.
He said the idea for his newest book came out of conversations he had with people during his book tour for the five people you meet in heaven. People told him about the people they missed and how they wished they could have one more chance to let those people know how they truly felt, or one more opportunity to set things right.
He also talked about some of the auto-biographical elements of for one more day. One particularly funny story centers on a photo that appears on the last page of the book. It is Mitch, at the age of 6, dressed as a mummy for Halloween. To celebrate the holiday, all of the kids were told to come to school dressed in their Halloween costumes. Rather than buying one of those cheap store-bought costumes, Mitch's mom, Rhoda, decided to make her own costume for Mitch and wrapped him in toilet paper to create The Mummy.
Once all the kids got to school they set off on a parade through town to show off their costumes. Then it started to rain and Mitch's costume basically disintegrated. When he got back to the playground all of the parents were waiting - and there was Mitch, in his pajamas (which his mom had made him wear underneath his costume), covered in wet globs of toilet paper.
Mitch was in tears, crying uncontrollably. When he finally spotted his mother in the crowd she had her hand up over mouth. Mitch got a good laugh from the crowd at Barnes and Noble when he mimicked his Mother''s expression by placing his hand over his own mouth. Then in front of everyone in the schoolyard, Mitch pointed his finger at his mother and yelled, "You ruined my life!"
Mitch is a great storyteller and knows how to speak to an audience. For all his fame, he also seems very approachable. After speaking to the crowd for about 10 minutes we were all marched into a line to begin the book signing. As I waited in line with my own four copies of the book, I started to read throught the first chapter and began thinking about who I would want to spend one more day with. The choice was an easy one. I would want to spend one more day with my grandfather Abe - A.B. to everyone who knew him. He was one of the kindest men I ever knew. I can still picture him when he used to work at the local gas station, back in the days before people started to pump their own gas and stations actually gave out records and toys for getting a full tank of gas. He loved the Red Sox and would listen to the game on a small transistor radio, the kind with the small ear plug that went in one ear. But my favorite memories of my grandfather are when we would go fishing. This is the man who taught me to fish.
When I finally got up to meet Mitch, he signed my books and we talked about Gather. He was looking forward to talking about his book with our community and was happy we were helping to promote his tour with Starbucks. I encourage anyone who can get out to his book signings to give it a go. Tell Mitch you've seen him on Gather, and post your story here.
David Woodrow,
Vice President, Groups
Gather Inc.
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Comments: 5
I'm already planning my day for the Los Angeles signing. I will have the challenge of driving from the suburbs to L.A. with the morning commuters. A two hour trip but the reward will be worth it. I can only imagine how many people will line up well before 12pm.