I was recognized!

I’m still laughing and shaking my head because last night I was actually recognized as Alaskamarge, in Asheville by a complete stranger who happened to be none other than the renowned “author and thinker” Dr. Peter Kingsley!  Who believes it?  Not me.  I feel like a star!  Ha!

Briefly mentioned at the end of my last post was my plan to hear Peter Kingsley speak about his new book at Malaprops, a wonderful independent bookstore in downtown Asheville.  I learned of his book and this event through an interview on the local public radio station about a week earlier and thinking it might be something my local friends might be interested in as well, I promptly forwarded them links to his website and it turns out Bunny, Suzanne, and Alan were all interested and came along.

After a wonderful dinner at the delightful Early Girl Cafe, we walked over to Malaprops to secure seating and copies of the book.   Peter, or perhaps I should say, Dr. Kingsley?, spoke about his book and how he came to write it etc.  After that came a question and answer period and after that, Peter was available to sign books for anyone interested.

I was interested, so when my turn arrived, I stepped up to the table and said something along the lines of, “Hello Peter, I’m Margie.”  Well, he looked up and said with enthusiasm, “You’re Alaskamarge, aren’t you?  I thought that was you!”  Oh my.  I was dumbfounded and had difficulty connecting the dots, so all I did was stand there and stammer and giggle.  Suzanne was right behind me and offered some very helpful giggling and arm punching.  It turns out his wife, Maria, saw my link to his website on my blog and took a look at it (my blog) and in turn, showed it to Peter, so that is how he knew about Alaskamarge and what I look like.  Wow.

He encouraged me to introduce myself to Maria, so I wormed my way over to her table and did just that.  What fun.  She commented on the blog and complimented the photos, which was very kind.

It wasn’t until we were all in the car on the way home (not with Peter and Maria, but just Alan, Suzanne, Bunny, and me) that I looked inside the book to see his signature and what he wrote.  Here is what i found, “For Alaskamarge who is everywhere!  Peter Kingsley”.

Did I mention I feel like a star?

Here is the link again.  http://www.peterkingsley.org/Details.cfm?ProdID=60&category=2 Check it out.

Did you guys know that the Constitution of the United States is closely patterned after the Iroquois Constitution?  Food for thought.  If anyone is interested, Alan unearthed a most interesting article on the subject after the talk last night.  I’d be happy to forward it.

I’m off to the Uhwarrie National Forest for a few days.

Stay tuned.