A Virgin No More: My First Book Signing, Lured in the by Best and Worst of the NFL

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I've never been to a published author's book reading and signing before now. After literally decades of writing and editing, the opportunity came up, one that I couldn't honestly resist even if I wanted to. ESPN correspondent and sports talk radio host Sal Paolantonio (whom I will hereafter refer to solely as "Sal") and longtime local sports writer for the Burlington County Times Reuben Frank were promoting the publication of their first book together, "The Paolantonio Report: The Most Overrated & Underrated Players, Teams, Coaches, & Moments in NFL History". Luckily, I saw the notice for the event that same morning in the paper for which Frank writes.

I called up one of my best friends, a woman who's my age, highly intelligent, and holds a Doctorate in Education; she also happens to be, like myself, an avid sports nut. (Her oldest daughter graduated from Alabama, which has led to many a pleasant Saturday afternoon watching the Crimson Tide roll over their opponents.) When I asked if she wanted to go with me, there wasn't a moment's hesitation on her part: she, too, was a virgin in the arena of book readings.

Two 'babes' (and I use that term loosely) in the woods that we were, we decided to head over to Borders at 6:30 PM that night. I'd read and heard about book signings and readings where folks stood in line for hours for a chance to have their book signed and meet the author. Sal and Reuben were scheduled to begin at 7:00 P.M., so we were hoping and praying for at least seats in the audience.

As chance would have it, not only did we get front row seats by 6:45, we were among the first half dozen people to show up. Some people had a copy of the book in their laps; giving up any last shred of dignity as to how one 'acts' at a book signing, I asked the nearby clerk what to do. Where WERE the books, anyway? Could we take one from the stack on the table? I took one; my friend took four (she has a pretty big family!). We didn't have to wait much longer (maybe ten minutes) before Sal himself showed up.