Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler on tour

[Mary]

Does anyone know who is that woman between Stephen and DH in the car? It seems like I have seen her in the pictures of several places on the tour. I have seen pictures of his wife and it doesn't look like his wife. So she travels with them? Does it look like she and DH are holding hands in the car?

[Gigi]

I saw her at Downer's Grove and Milwaukee. She also appears in pictures from other cities. My guess is that she works for Harper-Collins. Maybe his editor (Susan Rich) or somebody from the Publicity Department.

It must be very tedious for her to sit there next to him all the time. No one came to see her. All she does is hold open books and pass them to him to sign.

[jemima]

At least she gets to sit next to Daniel Handler and knows him well, and gets to tour all around with him. And she gets in pictures, and she looks pretty.
I thought that she was his wife when I met him as well, but surely it isn't. Hmm.

Fake edit: I'll get my story typed up soon. I keep procrastinating on it, and I don't want to do it without pictures, which aren't scanned yet.

[SnicketFires]

dgrune said:

I saw her at Downer's Grove and Milwaukee. She also appears in pictures from other cities. My guess is that she works for Harper-Collins. Maybe his editor (Susan Rich) or somebody from the Publicity Department.

It must be very tedious for her to sit there next to him all the time. No one came to see her. All she does is hold open books and pass them to him to sign.

I guessed that she was his publicity agent or editor or something (although I briefly thought that she was his wife, but that's not really logical). Note: She is not the same woman who attended him at the Doughnuts with Handler event. That one was younger, and drove the car.

[jemima]

I know, this is a bajillion years late, but better late than never! This was the best birthday present ever.

Date is: October 31st, 2006.
Time: 6:00 a.m.

I woke up brokenhearted, because it was my birthday, and my mother and I had a fight the night before, wondering if we were actually going to go downstate to Ann Arbor to see Lemony Snicket. I also had to finish my pointillism project, which was murder, and I didn't feel like wearing my Corpse Bride costume to school. Well, I felt like crying right then, because I hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before, and the fight and all, and bbvcahaoefndsfa. I also wasn't in a very good mood in the morning, because 1) Barely anyone wished me a happy birthday, and 2) I really wanted to go meet Lemony Snicket. And Samreen. But as third hour got over, I was called down to the office.... and I knew that I WAS GOING. YAY.

So we packed our bags at home and left for Ann Arbor. I think my mom went over the speed limit so we would get there in time for the presentation at the theater. It was fun. So I called my sister, and she gave us directions to the theater, and I found her, and the presentation was excellent! Couldn't have been better. He made two girls from the audience do sound effects to the reading from The End, and they were terrible. Ah well, it was hilarious! After the show was over, he rushed out, and the one dude started talking about how the signing was going to work and all that, and so when we could leave, I frantically looked around for Samreen.
There I saw her, walking up the aisle. It was flippin' amazing! All that hard work paid off, after five months. Hahahaha. We exchanged presents and walked across the street to Borders. Samreen and I had different colored wristbands, but we could play games while we waited for our groups to get called up. We made lion pictures with cupcake molds for the mane and made up a story. The employees hanged them up afterwards. But I got called up for the line before she did, and while my mom and I waited, the employees gave us stuff to do, like a "Are You a Villain or Volunteer?" quiz (I got 'volunteer') and a mad lib of a Beatrice letter. I took pictures in line while I waited.

Jemmy pulled a Lemony Snicket.


I was so excited I took a picture of his back.


My mom caught me "reading."


That was about half an hour to an hour away from when I was to meet him. There was plenty to do, though... I mean, we were standing in a Borders store, for goodness sake's.

BUT FINALLY



I introduced myself to him, and told him that it was my birthday and I had driven all the way down from upper Michigan just to meet him.



He asked, "Was it a terrible car?" I studdered and tried to think of a witty comment back, but alas, I didn't. He asked me where I was from, and apparently he's never been here. But he was awesome, and gorgeous, and he signed my book.



I brought along the two Nickelodeon Magazines that his books have appeared in before, but you weren't supposed to bring anything else for him to sign. Yet, he saw what I was holding under the table, and asked if he could see them.

"What an obsessive fan we have here," he said.

Still star-struck, (and sort of flustered/embarrassed) I showed him the articles.



"My, what a fast reader you are," he commented as I hurriedly passed through the pages to find it.

I think I was blushing a lot. But, he took the one from October 2006 and PERSONALLY signed the cover:



He wished me a "Happy Birthday" and shook my hand really firmly, because you weren't allowed to take pictures with him. Whatever, that was good enough for me!

::: D

So I got out of line, and Samreen and I took pictures. Unfortunately, I spilled paint on (coincidentally, strategically) her face. D:





Then a stranger came up to me and wished me a happy birthday! Whoa! Fantastic day! I love cities and birthdays. <3 <3

Here's what I had to go through that day:



If you would like to see the signature Mr. Handler gave me, PM me and I'll probably give you the URL.

Then I went through the line again with Samreen and her sister, and just then I spotted that Mr. Handler was wearing his own tailored shirt with special buttons on the cuffs. Dunno if you can point them out, but they were there and the camera was cheap and bad.



That's Samreen's and her sister's head. : P

"Basically," that's it! My sister and mom and me went to the little cafe the store has in the corner and I got some tea and a bagel. Yum. Samreen and rest said good-bye to us there, and yaddayada awesome.

As we walked out the store, we got one final picture of me and my sis:



BEST BIRTHDAY/BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER.

[Gigi]

Terrific report (if a little late ) and great pictures, too!

How did he sign your book? "With all due respect", or something else?

[jemima]

Nope, he just signed it "To Cristina" and then the date. Oh, and also "With all due respect."

[s]

Sounds fun. I (well, my mom) videotaped his whole thing when I went to the Downers Grove event. I was planning to transcribe it. I still will sometime. When I find time.

[M]

Sounds really awesome. Strategic paint changed colors though D: <

Lucky you two <3