Antoni – I’m very sorry for the long delay in responding to your query. My health has been less than perfect the last few months but today is a good day so I’ll try to do some writing.Originally Posted by peripheral
I have always been a collector. When I was young, I collected coins. It was so fulfilling to a young kid to search through 500 pennies and find one or two in good condition that filled a void. However, I left the coins to my younger brother and gradually moved to stamps because I was curious about the different people and cultures in the world. Philately enabled me to improve my knowledge of other countries. I had to buy a globe to find some of the postal jurisdictions! And, I believe that my parents still receive periodic notification of new offerings from the Cook Islands! I was very serious about collection and had a nice start on a U.S. collection.
Things changed rather quickly and very unexpectedly, though. On a warm summer night when I was 22, I made the mistake of trying to drive home from a party at a friend’s house. It was 8 short miles from his parent’s country farm to our small town in southern Wisconsin. I was by myself and I will not bore you with any details. I passed out about 3 miles from home and, while the road curved gradually to the left, my car remained going straight forward. I woke up 2 days later when a doctor asked me to sign a surgical consent. I dislocated two cervical bones in my neck and they were pushing against my spinal cord. I was paralyzed from mid-chest on down and the damage was irreversible. One day I am completely able-bodied and the next day I am a quadriplegic. I had no idea what the future would be like but I spent the next 6 months in the hospital recovering and rehabbing. So, how does this get me to the point of being a Stephen King collector? Please bear with me.
While I was in the hospital, folks would send cards or visit. I received the Peter Benchley book Jaws from a nearby baseball team. I mentioned how nice it was to a friend and later on I received a copy of Carrie. I remarked that I’d never heard of King but was told that I’d probably like it. The books weren’t read until after I was discharged from the hospital, though. In fact, I didn’t read Carrie until the winter of 1980 – my first year at the University of Arizona. ‘Salem’s Lot and The Stand were my next King “reads.”
While I continued collecting stamps, it became more and more obvious that actually handling such small, fragile objects would be a problem. Accidents could happen and very valuable stamps could lose significant value very easily. It was while I completed my B.S. in 1982 that I first contemplated collecting King books. But it wasn’t until 1984 that I sold my stamp collection and turned to books. Books were larger and easier for me to handle…and it seemed like King was collectible.
I collected from about 1984/5 until 1993. I had some good items -- all the 1st editions, all the S/Ls, some correspondence directly with King when he would routinely sign books for fans. My P&J at the time was the first three Dark Tower books #222! I had about 60 SK items of which there were maybe 25 “valuable” items.
I had graduated 3 times from the University of Arizona in the 80s and finally landed a job with the Department of Army in Sierra Vista, AZ. My salary was much lower than I thought it would/should be but at least it was a job. Cost of living in AZ was very doable so things were working out. However, in 1991 I was transferred (not my choice) to the DC area. MY cost of living almost tripled and I was having a difficult time making ends meet. One day I contacted Stu Tinker to see if he wanted to buy my collection and he said “yes!” So my books were packed and put into my van and I left for Bangor immediately after work on a Friday. I drove through the night and arrived at Betts the next morning. Stu and I conducted our business and I was back on the road to Virginia. The money kept me going until I got the promotions so life was good.
Fast forward to 2000. I always wanted to visit and travel to Europe but being disabled presented many challenges for me. I needed someone on the other side who would be able to physically help me so finding that person, along with many other logistic issues, made overseas travel very challenging. But in early June 2000, I decided that I’d get off my ass, so to speak, and do it. I found a lady who is a nurse who could help me while I was in London. She was great and she helped me in at least 10 subsequent trips to London. Anyway, she is indirectly the reason why I returned to SK collecting.
Her primary patient was English aristocracy and a very well-known and important bibliophile. I didn’t know how famous she was until years later. I think her correct title was Viscountess Eccles, but I knew of her as Lady Eccles. Through various conversations I had with my nurse, Lady Eccles insisted that I return to collecting books – “even if it is Stephen King” she joked! I told my friend that maybe I would return to collecting…and I did (slowly) in early 2003. The first book I bought back was a limited Firestarter. I visited London again in June 2003 and was told that Lady Eccles was not in great shape. A month or two later she passed away.
So that’s how I started, stopped and started again. This was a long post so I apologize if I exceeded the size of posts or for boring anyone with this post.
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