MEETING ALLAN ECKERT

I have been fortunate to meet the author Allan Eckert several times and to have him autograph copies of his books. The first time I met him was at the play "Tecumseh". During the intermission, over the loudspeaker came the message that Mr. Eckert was making a surprise visit and that we could purchase his new book and he would gladly autograph it. I told my husband, "If I'd known he was going to be here, I could've brought all my books." My husband groaned and said, "And you would do that, wouldn't you?" As I was waiting patiently in line, a man in front of me put his book down to autograph and Mr. Eckert asked his name and I could overhear the man say his name was "Fuchs" which he spelled. As the man turned to go, I asked him, "Any relation to Klaus?" The man responded, "You're not funny, lady!" As I put down my book to be autographed, Mr. Eckert was laughing and said, "You know you're terrible, don't you?'" I answered, "Well, it IS a famous name in history; I was going to tell him my name was Rosenberg!" Mr. Eckert shook his head and autographed the book. That's why my copy of "The Conquerors" is autographed to "Mrs. Rosenberg"!

The second time I met him, he was at a scheduled book signing in Xenia, Ohio. In preparation, I packed my bag with 20--yes, 20--I have no shame--of Eckert's books. My nephew Michael accompanied me to help me carry the books and he is also an Eckert fan. I purchased two copies of the new book--one for Michael and one for me. Mr. Eckert was sitting at a table and his wife was sitting beside him opening books to the proper page for him to sign. I placed the first one down--his new one--and then I reached in my bag and began taking out all of the volumes. Mrs. Eckert looked at me, laughed, shook her head and asked, "Is that all you do--read?" I answered, "No, I work too!" After the tenth book being plopped in front of her, she said, "You know you need to get a life!" After the fifteenth book, Mrs. Eckert let out an exaggerated sigh and asked, "You mean there's more?" The proprietor of the bookstore mistakenly thought there was a problem and he came over and he let me know that my greediness in getting all of my books signed was inappropriate. I said, with a straight face, "But I bought all of them here." Mrs. Eckert laughed and said, "And if you believe that one--I've got a bridge to sell you." Mr. Eckert said to the proprietor, "This looks like my biggest fan, so I don't mind signing all of them since I've already received the royalties!" At last, I brought out "The Conquerors" (which he had signed in Chillicothe years before) and I showed it to Mrs. Eckert and when she saw the inscription, she said, "Mrs. Rosenberg, I need a new house, so just keep buying books!" Mr. Eckert said, "Oh, I can't believe it--I remember this--she's NOT Mrs. Rosenberg!"

It's such a wonderful experience when the author of such serious books is full of good humor and his wife is equally charming.