Carl Sandburg and Lincoln

[Joe Di Cola]

Bill,

I have a signed copy of Golden's book, too. I will never forget the circumstances of its getting signed. It made such an impression on me that I wrote down the experience a few hours later and still have that impression in a manila folder. It was during a college break when I had gone back to Chicago and went downtown to the nnow defunct Kroch & Brentano's bookstore on Wabash. The book was there with a sign indicating that Carl Sandburg would be there in the afternoon to sign the book. It had already been signed by Harry Golden. A clerk asked if she could help me and I expressed my interest in purchasing the book, but also my dismay at not being able to be there in the afternoon when Sandburg would do his signings. She excused herself, I thought, to help another customer. She came back and asked me to follow her up onto the mezzanine of the store--where she ushered me into a room where, seated at a table, was Carl Sandburg. He rose and I eagerly shook his hand. He took out a Parker fountain pen (I remember this because I also wrote with one) and signed his name for me in the flyleaf of the book. I was thrilled!