The Gathering V
The Stan Kirsch Moment
By Lyria Wollich
First of all I want to say that Stan Kirsch is one of the
sweetest guys I've ever met. The Gathering was my very first convention
and I was not very sure what I was doing or even where I was going.
The first time I met Stan I was coming out of the Dealer Room - and not
paying much attention to where I was going - and ran headlong into him -
and three security people!
I apologized feeling really stupid right then and Stan
just laughed and said "I guess I should have been looking where I was
going. It's hard to pay attention cause there are so many people here.
Wow!"
He shook my hand and then went to his Autograph room which
was towards the back of the convention area. A lot of people were
lined up to get his autograph and I could hear a lot of them saying that
he was signing not just one, but two pictures of himself for fans. That is
a lot of signatures folks!
The next day I ran into him while Liz and I were getting
some food for the breakfast. Stan looked beat, but cheerful. I could
understand why he - and the rest of the cast were so tired. The auction
the night before had been over 3 hours long. It was only supposed to last
and hour and it was brutal. I didn't even stay until the end, I was
exhausted. I could just imagine how they felt.
Smiling I looked at Stan and said "Hell of an auction
night last night. I'm surprised you guys are even standing."
Liz laughed and nodded. "Tell me about it."
"It wasn't so bad, Stan said bravely. "It was
kind of fun."
I gave him one of those - 'ok, but I know better' looks
and Stan grinned and fessed up. "That was the longest auction I've
ever been in. I didn't think I'd make it to the end. Every time I
thought 'great! We're done.' someone else would come up with another box
of stuff."
"You did great." I told him "You lasted
longer than I did." explaining to him that I had gone upstairs
shortly after 8:30. "I could kind of tell that everyone was getting
the thousand mile stare up there." (talking about them on the stage)
Stan just nodded and said he wished he could sleep for a few more hours
and then went back to his table.
A lot of people who go to these conventions don't really
appreciate how much time and effort the actors spend on our behalf. They
are carted from Q&A's to Autograph signings to events and back
again.
So this is my chance to say thanks
to Stan for being such a great guy and being nice to a newby.
To find out more about Stan visit his website at www.stankirsch.com.