It just so happened that I had checked the website that highlights celebrity books signings around the country, when I happened on an upcoming one in Cincinnati. I wasn’t a gigantic fan of Regis Philbin, but I had enjoyed him well enough on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?, and of course loved his guest appearance on Seinfeld in which he played himself amd has a hilarous encounter with Kramer on his show. I’m a working man, so I haven’t had many chances to see Live! with Regis and Kathy Lee or with Regis and Kelly or with any other incarnation.
The date of the event was Wednesday, November 30, 2011, and it was taking place at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in the Rookwood Commons shopping center – where I had previously had the honor of meeting Caroline Kennedy. Needless to say, I wasn’t quite as excited about this one but it was a pleasant diversion. It was made even more fun by inviting my friend Dean to go along with me. Always up for a celebrity encounter, he met me at work when I got off at 5pm.
We drove over to the bookstore, purchased our books, and were given our number – or rather letter. We would be in group Q, so we had quite a wait. Regis arrived almost on time and addressed the crowd a little bit after 7pm. He talked about a party he had attended with George Clooney in Italy, and also about George’s parents being from Cincinnati. His book, How I Got This Way, apparently featured a bit about them and the city.
The bookstore announced that there would be no posed picture, but that they would snap a photo of the patrons getting their books signed. After about 20 minutes, they made the announcement that this was taking too long, so they were discontinuing photos. The only pictures that would be allowed would be from the steps before you approached Regis. I boldly told Dean, “We’re not doing that.”
And we did. After about a 90 minute wait during which we browsed the store, we finally made it into the line and up the stairs. I handed Dean the camera and approached Regis. The fool in front of me was chatting away, so my book was signed while he was talking to someone else. This was OK with me, but I wasn’t going to miss my photo op. I turned around, held up my book, watched Dean fumble with his book and the bag it was in, and then snap the photo like a nervous professional. In the end, good old Dean came through. But if I had raised my copy of the signed book another inch, I would have completely obscured Regis’ face. As it was I grateful that his face was not only visible, but he was looking at the camera and smiling.
Dean then got his book signed. I stopped before exiting to get his picture, was harassed by a female security guard who was bulging out of her pants, ignored her, and got a picture with Regis and Dean. We then went home.
This was the story of my encounter with Regis Philbin. The book stayed in my car for exactly two weeks.
Return to December 2011…
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