A Cowboy Signed My Custom Card

 

When I'm writing down addresses on envelopes for custom cards that are going out, I usually don't pay much attention to the specific information. Once in a while I'll notice a town's name if it's wacky or interesting, or if a card is going to a state that I don't often send to, like Hawaii or Nebraska or something, but that's about it.

 

However, a few months ago, I paused as I wrote a person's name on an envelope:

 

Burton Gilliam

 

This particular Mr. Gilliam had a mailing address in Texas. As for the card that was ordered? It was a few copies of this one. (Note the name of the actor on the bottom left.)

 

 

 

 

Could the cards be going to the very same Burton Gilliam who played the character of Lyle in Blazing Saddles? Excitedly, I looked at the transaction record and found the buyer's name.

 

Nope. It didn't match. 

 

However, I figured I'd contact the buyer anyhow, because hey, if these cards were actually going to Burton Gilliam the actor, I wanted to send my thanks—and maybe a few extra copies of the card.

 

Soon enough, an email reply came in...

 

The cards were, in fact, going to Mr. Gilliam the actor!

 

I turns out that the buyer was a good friend of Mr. Gilliam's, and wanted to send him a few copies. How cool.

 

But wait, that's not all. 

 

The buyer was more than kind, and he and I struck up an email conversation. And when I say "more than kind", I mean it. Soon enough, I learned that Mr. Gilliam liked the card so much that he wanted to autograph a copy for me!

It didn't take me long to respond. I sent a few more copies of the card along with a self-addressed stamped envelope, and within a couple of weeks, this beauty was in my possession.

Mr. Gilliam even sent back more than one signed copy.

 

But wait, that's still not all!

Mr. Gilliam is such a nice and personable guy that he sent me a video thank-you message as well! 

 

I won't show it here for the sake of privacy, but I'll tell you that he was even wearing a cowboy getup quite similar to the clothing and stetson he wore in Blazing Saddles. The video also made it clear to me that Mr. Gilliam is still going strong into his 80s. He seems young and spry and joyful—the embodiment of the philosophy that age is just a number.

 

What a cool guy.

A big thank-you to Burton Gilliam, and his good friend who made all this possible. The autographed cards will have a very good home in my box of favorite cards.