Joseph Wambaugh....

I'm relatively disappointed right now. I just finished The Delta Star by Joseph Wambaugh. It was a wonderful book, filled with pure storytelling, some of the most blissfully entertaining that I've ever read. Why would one be disappointed then, especially after such a thrilling experience? Well, I'm in a special situation. See, my copy of the The Delta Star is signed by Mr. Wambaugh and he gave the book to me for free. You see, he taught Screenwriting for the Theatre Department at UCSD as a guest lecturer, and I took that class. However, at the time, I had NO idea who he was, no clue that he was the legendary master of the police procedural, author of the critically acclaimed masterpiece, The Choirboys. Thus, I had no real appreciation for him and his lectures. He seemed like a nice enough guy, funny too, but apparently I'd rather lay in bed instead of attend the 9 am class. Ah.. the foolishness of youth. I ended up getting a C in that class because I ditched many of the mandatory lectures. At the time, I just didn't care. Now I realize that I wasted an amazing opportunity to learn from a master. See, I'm so disappointed right now because I wanted to e-mail him and tell him just how great his book was, but I can't find the e-mail address! And, I can't find it on google either! I actually had his personal e-mail address because he gave it out to everyone in the class. Thus, I am, as they say, out of luck and low on spirit. Oh well, the only thing I can do now is buy my copy of the The Choirboys and read that one, too. More likely than not, that should cheer me up again.