Well, it's not here, and I ain't him. If you are trying to get hold of him, he isn't on Comcast, nor is he living in Beaverton, OR. As far as I can tell, he doesn't have an email address under his name, neither do I know where where I can forward his fan letters. Somebody saw that I have an agent, put two and two together, and came up with five.I'm not the droid you are looking for. Sorry.
I get this a lot. Give the guy at the gas station my credit card, or the waitress at the restaurant, and if either of them is of a certain age, sometimes I'll hear, "Whoa! Steve Perry?"
I know what the next line is, and I just grin.
(To complicate it even more, there is yet another Steve Perry who is a rock singer, for The Cherry Poppin' Daddies ...)
I have a whole little comedy routine I use, about wearing my old man disguise, or pointing out that the difference between that Steve and me is that I can sing ...
Now and then, I get Steve-of-Journey's email or snail fan mail. Not an avalanche of it, but enough so that I have a boiler plate form letter I send back: Sorry, you got the wrong guy, if I knew where to tell you to go, I would, good luck.
Some of the letters are lovely, touching, coming-of-age memories, and how much hearing a certain song on a certain day still means to the writer. People who were down and out, but who found a reason to go on, from listening to the right tune at the right time. Some of them are so bare and open I quit reading them, so I don't end up feeling like a peeping tom.
When Steve-not-me was still with Journey, I used to get the odd picture now and then, sometimes of young women in various states of dress, along with invitations to drop round next time I was in town ...
Steve-formerly-of-Journey, if you are out there and you come across this, send me a post office box number or an email drop, and and I'll forward your mail -- I won't give it out to the public, I promise. I slugged this posting as I did with the hope that somebody googling for an address will see that I'm not you.
And, don't stop believin' ...
From the "it's a small world" department, there was a contractor by my house last week to do a bid on some work. I have drawings, and offered to e-mail them to him. I fired up GMail, hit "Compose," and said, "Okay, what's your address?"
ReplyDeleteWell, the contractor's first name is Steve, and when I started typing, GMail offered up a list of the Steves I've sent e-mail to. At the top of the list was "Steve Perry." Contractor-Steve said, "Steve Perry? Whoa!"
Thinking I understood what he was thinking, I said, "That's Steve Perry the science fiction author, not the rock singer."
"Yeah, he's my neighbor. I live in Beaverton. You know him? Small world, huh?"
Yup, small world.
It is a small world -- that's my next-door neighbor.
ReplyDeleteWhen my wife and I moved from Baton Rouge to L.A., we used to like to go to Disneyland. Back when it was cheap enough to do so. One day, as we were leaving the Magic Kingdom in beautiful Anaheim, we stopped in camera store on Main Street to pick up something. Got to talking to the man behind the counter, he wondered at our accent, so we told him we were from Louisiana.
Huh, he said. I used to know a woman who lived in Baton Rouge. Gwen Waller?
My wife's mother ...
Bantam used to send me Daniel Keyes' mail -- I opened half a few of them before I clued in and started checking the names on the envelopes more carefully.
ReplyDeleteThe "Flowers for Algernon" mail was kind of charming. "The Minds of Billy Mulligan" mail -- book about a guy with multiple personalities -- were some of the creepiest things I've ever read.
Perhaps the amount of mistaken fan mail will decrease soon. Journey played here in San Antonio this weekend, and my friends that went to the concert tell me that the band’s new lead sounds just like Steve Perry. I don’t know his name, but they tell me that he’s from the Philippines, so I’m guessing it’s nothing close to “Perry.” ♫
ReplyDeleteSS
For me, if somebody ever mentions Steve Perry, I always think of the writer who wrote one of my favourite novels, 'Matadora.'
ReplyDeleteRegards
Graham
For me, if anyone ever mentions the name Steve Perry, I always think of the chap who wrote one of my favourite novels, Matadora.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Graham