posted April 29, 2005 03:14 PM               

I bet if you asked ~very~ sweetly, a cSPACEr might take your book to a signing you are unable to attend and have it embossed for you.

Or better yet, see if you could drum up widespread support for a book signing held near you. Like the Cosmosphere! I'd bet they'd be thrilled to host a book signing. Call New American Library and complain about the selection of book tour cities! Cite regional interest and enclose figures predicting likely attendance in your area.

And by all means, consider how your remarks here might affect Pete's widow.

I haven't read Rocketman. I have no commercial stake in the sales. I hope nevertheless it's a great story, for Pete's sake, embossed or not, signed or not.

But I am not much of a collector and so perhaps do not entirely understand your feelings. I ended up with a collection only by chance.

With all respect,

posted April 29, 2005 06:44 PM               

I have done just that in the past but I also worry about asking too many times. Steve was kind enough to handle a couple of books for me at Burbank last fall, and another nice lady handled some Robert "Hoot" Gibson prints for me on Houston. The New Jersey show is coming up this summer and it is going to be very tempting to attend it. I think I have about a 50/50 chance of making it. My 16 year old daughter has a serious problem with an 18 year old stalker and so far I have spent two of my vacations days taking him to court and we have two more court dates coming up in May. My company's policy is that if you need some time off for personal time then use your vacation days even if you will only be gone for a few hours. If I end up using my vacation days in court then I may not get to go to New Jersey and then I would have to ask for help again.

I think what I need to do is just keep my order in place so that I can get the inscription that I asked for then hope to have the book embossed later. A signing at the Cosmosphere sounds great. Your father is doing that in June and Sy will be there next week. I might ask around while I am there next Saturday and see if I can make that suggestion. Thanks for the idea, I had not thought about that.

"And by all means, consider how your remarks here might affect Pete's widow".

I don't think any of my posts would have upset her but if they did that was not my intention. If I have upset Nancy then I would like to offer my sincere apology. I think the stamp is great and as a collector of signed books I would like to have the embossment in my book. Hopefully my desire to get that did not lead me to say something that would have hurt anyone.

"I haven't read Rocketman. I have no commercial stake in the sales. I hope nevertheless it's a great story, for Pete's sake, embossed or not, signed or not".

I am looking forward to reading Rocketman. I love reading the astronaut biographies and I am looking forward to learning more about Pete.

"With all respect".

Thanks for your words of kindness and for the suggestions.

posted May 01, 2005 06:33 AM               

Well to me the embossing is the same. Pete's gone, unfortunately, and so is his autograph.

Nancy is signing the book as the author with a personal inscription...good enough for me.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks Nancy for publishing a book we can all sit back with and read about one of the best pilots and nicest guys anyone ever saw.

posted May 01, 2005 05:42 PM               

Things are looking up. I found a district court clerk that got more done in 24 hours than two county and on city attorneys did in 11 weeks. ( I ended up sending her a big vase full of candy and a thank you ballon and a nice big thank you card from my daughter and myself. ) It has gotten better and these upcoming court dates should help even more.

Thanks for the encourgement. It has been a rough road.

Mike

posted May 04, 2005 04:08 PM            

The candidate quitted, keeping half a million...

posted May 09, 2005 06:42 AM               

"I bet if you asked ~very~ sweetly, a cSPACEr might take your book to a signing you are unable to attend and have it embossed for you."

As it turns out that is exactly what has happened. Last week I received an e-mail from a cS member, I will refer to him as AcS, offering to pick up a signed and embossed copy of Rocketman for me. AcS was going to attend a signing because he also wanted to have an embossed book. He was going to get a copy for himself and another friend so he wanted to know if I would be interested. I gladly accepted. I talked to AcS after the signing and he had a nice story about the signing and we decided to post it here on CollectSpace.

When AcS met Nancy Conrad AcS asked if Nancy would be willing to sign, personalize, and emboss 3 copies for 3 different people. Nancy said she would be please to do that. Then when AcS requested that Nancy use the inscription of "I hope this book brings Pete to life for you." she remembered reading about that inscription from these forums. Nancy said she remembered someone from Kansas wanting an embossed and signed book with that inscription in it. She said she wished there was a way that I could have received an signed and embossed copy. At that time AcS told Nancy that one of the books was indeed for me. AcS said that Nancy was very happy to know that I would be receiving my signed and embossed copy. She said that she was also touched that people would want their books signed with that inscription in them. AcS said that Nancy is a very nice lady and he was touched by her willingness to sign these three books. AcS said he was glad to meet her in person. I only wish I could have been there. If it turns out that Nancy does a signing in Kansas I will try to attend and thank her in person.

I want to say "Thanks" to AcS for handling the book for me and to Nancy for signing and embossing the book. Signed books make up the largest part of my collection mostly because I find them so rewarding. I do have some signed prints, medallions, models, a flown item, and patches in my collection but I get so much more from a book because they hold so much information. I look forward to reading the book and learning more about Pete Conrad:Rocketman.

posted May 09, 2005 05:44 PM            

The signing itself was at the gift shop, and the posters announcing it didn't come out until 1:00, so there was no line at all. The embossing on my book didn't turn out too well, as she accidentally had two pages stuck together, so it's very faint, some of it not there at all. Oh, well, I can still make out Pete's face....and I'll never forget Nancy putting all her might into squeezing that embossing tool!

Robert, maybe you or someone else with contacts could find out when Nancy's talk will be aired on C-Span. Thanks.

posted May 16, 2005 03:40 PM               

On one of the other threads about this book it was mentioned there was a signing at the KSC Visitors Center on May 13th - did you read it in time? Did I see you there and not know it?

cheers,

posted May 16, 2005 05:34 PM               

God, I am SO sorry!! That misinformation must be directly traceable to me! I had a chance to re-introduce myself to Conrad several years ago in Denver, at a screening for <i>Apollo 13</i>. Carpenter was there too, along with about six other astronauts.

I asked after the boys and Jane. There were scores of people around us wielding pens and drinks and photos to be autographed. Not a great environment for careful conversation . . .

What I heard I'm sure was information I muddled here badly--about divorce and deaths--at the time, I quickly offered my apologies to Conrad and that was that. It was wonderful to see him again, after decades, and I am so sorry he is gone.

Here, I am thrilled to learn here that the reports of Jane's death have been, as Mark Twain said, "greatly exaggerated."

My apologies herewith, for terrible reporting skills, offered most abjectly.

posted May 16, 2005 06:37 PM               

No I wasn't there. Family and work obligations kept me from it. So close and yet so far.

posted May 21, 2005 09:34 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by KC Stoever:
John,

I got that all the time, on book tour, with some people waiting in line actually asking me NOT to co-sign For Spacious Skies. It's just the lay of space-celebrity land, as your own reaction reveals. It's all about the astronaut, and family members learn that fast.

---

Kris,

I own two copies of FSS for a very simple reason: your signature doesn't accompany Scott Carpenter's on the hardback copy I bought. Soon after the paperback edition was released I discovered several signed copies on the shelves of the Park Meadows Borders. Disappointed that I had missed attending a signing, I picked up a copy and turned to the page with his autograph. Seeing your signature on the page along with his clinched the sale.

It's difficult for me to imagine asking an author not to sign a book that she has labored to create. I certainly wish that Pete was still with us to autograph "Rocketman", but I wouldn't think of asking Nancy not to sign the work that she authored. My personalized copy will be on the way to me after the San Diego signing, and I'll gladly shelve it alongside my other astronaut signed books.

Thanks for writing "For Spacious Skies". Your insight has made it one of my favorite bios of a Mecury astronaut. Perhaps one of these days I'll get the chance to have you add your signature and personlization to my FSS hardback.

Rick

posted May 21, 2005 10:37 PM               

"I got that all the time, on book tour, with some people waiting in line actually asking me NOT to co-sign For Spacious Skies. It's just the lay of space-celebrity land, as your own reaction reveals. It's all about the astronaut, and family members learn that fast".

I would have jumped at the chance to have you sign my copy of FSS. I would love to have your father personalize my copy of the book during his visit to the Cosmosphere next month but my wife's nephew is getting married that day.

Humm.......... I wonder which event she will want me to attend. The book signing at the Cosmosphere or the wedding??

My thoughts will be with the people at the Cosmosphere.

posted May 22, 2005 06:00 PM            

We had a busy afternoon of signing and embossing, and Nancy greatly enjoyed meeting all of you.

We have a number of signed and embossed copies left after the event for sale. It's a wonderful, high-octane read, a ride which does not let up from beginning to end. I learned a lot about the man behind the spacesuit visor, especially his life before and after NASA.

Thanks,

posted June 09, 2005 07:30 PM               

I was plesantly surprised to see the embossing in the book as I had thought this was an in person thing. As others as discussed, this was a desireable item, and I'd very much like to thank Mrs Conrad and the others who perhaps helped this to happen.

Mrs Conrad, I hope you're reading this as I want to thank you for the gracious way you've been handling this. Loving the Ride-an excellent book so far.

Hope you can make it to Kansas Cosmopshere some time so I can meet you.

posted June 13, 2005 01:06 PM            

Thank you for your very kind words. Yes, Nancy intended to only emboss books for the in-person signings that day, however 20-30 of the Internet orders were inadvertently embossed too before Nancy realized. When she realized this, she said "Well, some people are going to have a pleasant surprise!"

I am glad to hear that you are one of the lucky ones, Steve - it goes to show, you never know what extras might come at our signings (for example, we've had other astronauts turn up for signings in the past to see their old cohorts). Sorry it wasn't possible for every internet order - but I should mention that the signed, undedicated books we are now selling post-event are all embossed too. Contact me if you are interested - I am sure they will be rare, collectors items.

Thank you,

posted June 21, 2005 01:49 AM               

If not for folks like Francis and staff and others like Boggs Space Books, folks outside the US would miss out on treasures such as these.

So please accept my grateful thanks on a job well done.

posted June 21, 2005 01:05 PM            

That's wonderful to hear that they arrived and that you like them so much. It was our pleasure.

As someone who is from the UK, I remember just how hard it was to get US space books when I lived there. It is a lot harder for us to process the international orders compared to the domestic ones, but it's an important service to offer, and Kathy in our store is meticulous in ensuring each order is done correctly.

We are still taking orders (domestic and international ) for our signed and embossed copies of this book, while they last - please see:
http://www.nexternal.com/rhfleet/?Product=204

Thanks again,

posted June 23, 2005 11:02 AM            

Thanks again,