I had the pleasure of attending Charlotte's inaugural book signing Monday night in Madison, Connecticut. On top of seeing her perform in Providence Saturday night this qualifies as my all Charlotte long weekend. The signing was sponsored by R.J. Julia Booksellers and was held at Daniel Hand High School in Madison. Madison is a very nice community about 15 miles from New Haven and perhaps a half hour or so from Hartford. This bookstore which could be viewed as not exactly New York or Boston on the East Coast swing is famous for their book signings and talks. In the famous singer department Joni Mitchell has been there and they are hoping for both Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather in the future.

The event was billed as Charlotte talking about her book and then doing a signing. I arrived at 6:45 for the 7:00 start and plunked down $26.00 which got me admission and a copy of her book as well as a ticket for the signing. By 7:00 I would estimate that there were about 400 people in the auditorium. Lots of children, senior citizens and moms and dads. An announcement was made that Charlotte was running late due to heavy traffic in Stamford, Connecticut which is just north of New York City and about 50 miles from Madison. That is no great surprise. That left us with 45 minutes to kill. During that time the event sponsors were on the phone to Charlotte's limo en route and the audience was urged to submit questions for Charlotte ahead of time which they did. These were sorted out and relayed over the phone.

Charlotte arrived at 8:00. The setting was auditorium seating and a bare stage with some lighting and a podium with a microphone. After a brief introduction Charlotte came out. Since there has been some question about hair-dos and bangs and so on, allow me to further confuse the issue. In her Providence performance on Saturday Charlotte had her hair up with bangs swept to the side much as she had at the Grammys. Lovely. For the Today Show as the video captures show, no bangs. Well, by Monday night Charlotte had the same bangs swept to the side with her hair in a pony tail held in place with a red scrunchy (elastic ribbon). She wore a light brown velour long sleeved top with some glitter on the sleeves and your basic every day Levis (blue Jeans) that obscured whatever she was wearing on her feet. The crowd was definitely informal and so was Charlotte. She stood at the podium with a beverage can in hand and apologized to the audience for being late, traffic and all that. The au dience was incredibly patient and gracious. There was never a moan or groan in the hour wait and I got well into her book. One of the hosts for the evening sat on the edge of the stage and read questions to Charlotte who at first could not be heard. The microphone was adjusted and Charlotte moved closer. I might add that I was in the third row, over to the side with a perfect view of Charlotte in profile. Charlotte rocked back and forth on her toes and answered the same questions she has been asked before many times. How did you get your start? Who do you listen to? and so on. Every question got a polite, often enthusiastic thorough answer, Nothing was thrown away and Charlotte answered every question submitted.

After that Charlotte took a very brief break doffed her velour top and had a white sweater on underneath. She sat a table and began signing. I was among the first twenty and got a great signature since her signing hands was fresh. I also got a thank you and a dazzling smile from Charlotte to which I obviously responded likewise. I stayed and watched for a little while and Charlotte recognized everyone the same way. I remember taking my son when he was young to autograph sessions where some (not all) athletes signed and never looked up. Since there were so many people Charlotte could not pose with them or she would be there all night, but photos were permitted while she signed. I can tell you there were lots of little girls in seventh heaven and I enjoyed an informal evening with Charlotte in the Connecticut countryside. - Mr. B

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