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Author Topic:   Longest astronaut autograph return time
Apollo-Soyuz
Member

Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004

posted 01-26-2018 10:13 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Apollo-Soyuz   Click Here to Email Apollo-Soyuz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
What was the longest somebody waited for an autograph request to return through the mail?

I just received an autograph return from STS-40 Pilot and STS-59 Commander Sid Gutierrez that I sent on Sept. 8, 1994 after 23 years, 139 days. Covers were signed as requested. Can anybody top this?

jemmy
Member

Posts: 176
From:
Registered: Dec 2010

posted 01-26-2018 03:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jemmy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I doubt it very much that anybody can beat that time... amazing. I would love to hear the explanation.

randy
Member

Posts: 2176
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 01-26-2018 04:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for randy   Click Here to Email randy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Me too.

Wehaveliftoff
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Posts: 2343
From:
Registered: Aug 2001

posted 01-26-2018 04:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Wehaveliftoff     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's a miracle both of you are still alive and have a residence that long. Congratulations. Patience is a virtue.

Apollo-Soyuz
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Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004

posted 01-26-2018 06:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Apollo-Soyuz   Click Here to Email Apollo-Soyuz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I may add when I sent these requests I was still living at home and my mother still lives there so it was delivered to her address. After all the years, I had enough postage on the return envelopes. I also put the date of the request on the back of the return envelope.

jtheoret
Member

Posts: 344
From: Albuquerque, NM USA
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 01-27-2018 02:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for jtheoret   Click Here to Email jtheoret     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Congratulations. The longest I ever waited was 7 years (though I can't recall from whom). 23 years is a record I don't want to break.

india-mike
Member

Posts: 76
From: Linnich, Northrine Westfalia, Germany
Registered: Jan 2012

posted 01-27-2018 03:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for india-mike   Click Here to Email india-mike     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Congratulations. And you give new hope to everyone in this community who still waits for requests to be answered. 1994? Wasn't it the year when the 17th Winter Olympic Games opened in Lillehammer?

And you can't say that Sid Gutierrez isn't reliable.

eurospace
Member

Posts: 2610
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 01-27-2018 01:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for eurospace   Click Here to Email eurospace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My longest wait thus far was with Hank Hartsfield and for 12 years. Hartsfield was known as a good and quick signer, so that request was certainly an exception and disappeared at some point. Hartsfield must have found it when cleaning his office prior to retirement.

But maybe I can still beat the record. I am having a Gutierrez request out that was sent in the early 90s, but never came back. Wait and see...

Dirk
Member

Posts: 933
From: Belgium
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 01-27-2018 03:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Dirk   Click Here to Email Dirk     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Not exactly the same but a nice story:

In January 1975, I wrote a letter to the Dutch space specialist Chriet Titulaer, asking him several questions. He returned a letter saying he ha had no time at that moment to answer my questions.

So in March 2005 I sended a letter, with copy of his letter of 1975, asking him if he had time now... and he answered all my questions I sended 30 years earlier.

dss65
Member

Posts: 1156
From: Sandpoint, ID, USA
Registered: Mar 2003

posted 01-27-2018 06:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dss65   Click Here to Email dss65     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
That's a very cool story, Dirk.

RichieB16
Member

Posts: 552
From: Oregon
Registered: Feb 2003

posted 01-28-2018 04:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for RichieB16   Click Here to Email RichieB16     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
That's amazing.

Beats my record by a long shot. My record is 11 years from Alexei Leonov.

jtheoret
Member

Posts: 344
From: Albuquerque, NM USA
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 07-11-2018 12:36 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for jtheoret   Click Here to Email jtheoret     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I really don't know if I can beat the Sid Gutierrez wait with my own record because I don't really know when I sent it, but my son just delivered a Sid Gutierrez litho delivered to his mom's house that I have not lived at since at least the summer of 2000. Not sure when I sent the request, but it was at least 17 years. My question is, where does he store all these autograph requests from decades ago? Don't give up hope! Sid is spending 2018 answering mail!

Update: In looking at my return envelope again, I crossed out an address I stopped using in 1997 and wrote the address it was delivered to, where I lived from 1997 through 2000. It's a pretty safe bet I sent the request in 1997 (so 21 years is definitely my longest wait — well 23 years if you count waiting for the Cowboys to win another Super Bowl...).

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