I Patted David Sedaris’s Hand

I patted David Sedaris’s hand tonight. It may have been a combination pat/pet…I can’t recall for sure. I am slightly mortified. Why did I do that!

I saw him speak tonight. This is the fourth or fifth time I’ve been to one of his talks. He always signs books afterward, and the line is always incredibly long. So I have always skipped the signing part. But tonight, I stuck it out. My friend Carrie went to the talk with me. She had written a letter to David a few years ago, and he wrote her back. She wanted to show him the letter. Unfortunately, she couldn’t stay to wait in line. I felt it was a mission to get to him to show him the letter. Also, I kind of told myself that meeting him could be a birthday list item.

So. I waited in line for almost an hour and a half. As I got closer, I realized that it was taking so long because he was chatting with people. He was asking the fans questions! As if they were chatting over cocktails. I decided I could talk to him about London, because I gleaned that he had moved there, from Paris. I tend to get tongue-tied when meeting authors so I was glad to have something to talk about.

We talked about London a bit…then I showed him Carrie’s letter. He said that he writes back to everyone, unless the person is crazy. And he said that people write him letters asking him for free stuff all the time. I was surprised by that.

He was so endearing and laidback…I wanted to give him a hug or something. Out of nowhere, came the hand pat. Why didn’t I shake his hand? Why the grandmother hand pat. He just smiled and squinted his eyes…I hope I didn’t creep him out.

Sigh. Oh well. After I left, I looked at what he wrote in my book. This is why I love him. He wrote—

“To Nancy. I’m so happy you’re alive.”