It happened in 1995, my senior year in high school. I got a FoMP newsletter in the mail that included a list of places Mike would be doing signings to promote his new album of stories, and I saw a local Border Books & Music on the list. In school I was a member of the media club, which essentially was a student run television studio that had an educational access TV station that could be seen on the local cable station 28. After some thought, I decided to call One Step Records and see if maybe he'd have a few minutes to spare when he was out my way for a quick interview. So I talked with a woman at One Step who seemed to think something could be worked out... someone, it turned out, named Tara! And then, I believe it was the second phone call, as if that wasn't enough for me to handle, towards the end of my proposal I hear "Oh hold on.. here he is..." HE?! I thought. And then the phone said "Hello, Bill, this is Mike." What did I say? Did it sound like I maintained my composure? I don't know, I'm asking. What I remember was a short conversation that felt like an hour long, and that I was sweating.

Things were left a little in the air as they did not yet know what interviews they would be doing when, etc., but things were looking up. To cut out all of the preperation I did for that night, we'll skip right to that night.

It was one of the worst snowfalls we'd seen in a while. The roads iced over, and we were all waiting at the high school at 6:00 and Mike was aiming for an 8:00 arrival time. Police were advising people to stay off the roads unless you couldn't help it. My mother was home because we were waiting for an initial phone call from them, and it was going to my apartment. It came. They would be delayed because of the bad road conditions, but they would make it. My mother tried to drive to the school (about 10 minutes away) and turned around because of the ice. Now we had his car phone number so we could all keep track of who was where and when. After calling them again, they were about twenty minutes away and everything was going well. Unfortunately, they had no way to call us at the school because the switchboard was closed, so after they hadn't come, I checked my machine. They had gotten lost in Albany. Next message, still lost. Next message, found their way again. Meanwhile, my mother had decided she would not miss out on the evening and had made it to the school despite the weather. After all was said and done, including a lot of waiting and fretting, I was on the phone with Mike and Tara as they were pulling into the driveway for the school. We all ran out into the snow and slush to greet them.

It was probably one of the most memorable nights of my life, and I expect it to be there for a very long time. The taped interview lasted an hour, despite feeling like only ten minutes. Mike is an extremely engaging person to speak with, that's for sure. I won't go on about what we talked about, that's all on video tape for anyone who really wants to know. After the interview, we (Mike, Tara, all my friends who helped me out on this night, and a couple of others who came) talked for a short amount of time, and they left only after making certain that they'd each hugged everyone who came to see them. I spent that night editing the show so that it could air on our cable station before his appearance at the Borders two nights later. A couple of people who showed up that night did mention seeing the interview. The night at Borders was extraordinary in its own ways. Seeing all the people who came to meet him and have something signed. I was asked about halfway through the night by Tara to go sit behind the table with Mike and hand out some of the free stuff they had. So, I got to hear many of the stories people had to tell Mike, something else I'm not bound to forget for a very long while.

Alex DaSilva, Josh Perfetto, Mike Rosellini, John Fritze, Charlotte Viscio, Nick Viscio, Tara Pinder, Mike Pinder, Bill Jerome, Nicholas Viscio, & my mother (behind the camera).

Summing up the whole experience..... would be impossible, but take this as a message. If you find that you ever have the opportunity to meet the Pinders, at a signing, or anything, take full advantage of it. Mike and Tara are both wonderful people, more than can be described in words, and are welcoming to any fans of Mike's.

Here are two pictures taken at the Borders appearance, one of Mike and I and one of Tara and I.