(updated)
A while back I bought a grab bag from Betts Bookstore. It was a box of strange, wonderful things. My favorite thing -- perhaps the thing that has given me the most pleasure -- is a simple scrap book.
It belonged, I am sure, to Charlie Fried. Fried was a "super-collector," meaning he owned LOTS of unique Stephen King items. He was the subject of an interview in Stephen J. Spignesi's THE ESSENTIAL STEPHEN KING. Spignesi titled this portion, "10 Questions With Stephen King Super Collector Charlie Fried."
Spignesi described Fried as the definition of the term "low profile." He also noted that he had one of the five most important Stephen King collections in the world. "I think the term supercollector was coined for him," Spignesi wrote. Fried called King the "ultimate storyteller."
After his death, Fried's collection was broken up and sold through Betts Bookstore. Including, I guess, his scrapbook. I'm in no way a "supercollector." But I'm a fan of the supercollector! Is it strange, one of my favorite Stephen King items is just Charlies ragtag notebook. I find it endearing, fun and kind of sweet.
Fried's scrapbook is a little bit of absolutely everything! I like it because it's personal, it's not a book, it's pictures he took and essays he wrote. . I'm inviting you to come with me as I dig through Charlie's scrapbook. This will be fun! It will also be a lot of pictures, so the page might load slow for a while. . The scrap book is kept in a simple notebook with permanent binding. (hard to describe) The items are kept in simple page protectors. Good stuff!
A newsletter from Betts bookstore. 
Charlie's review of The Mangler. I'll type and put it up as a post soon, because it's quite good. 
Charlie's notes: "My visit to Bangor Maine -- or the pleasure of hearing Stephen King read to about 3,100 plus people." This is actually the first page of the notebook. 
Ad for "An evening with Stephen King." Attached are Charlie's tickets at the bottom of the page. "All seats $5." Friday, Sept. 15, 7:30 pm, Bangor Auditorium. "Spend a memorable evening with one of America's favorite storytellers reading from a selection of personally chosen material." Hosted by Tabitha King, proceeds will benefit The Bangor Public Library Capital Campaign. 
A map of Bangor. Charlie pasted a paper to it and identified places in Stephen King books.
Im creating my own version of a Stephen king notebook (in 2022, people are calling this type of item a Junk Journal). I think of you as very blessed to own Charlies notebook because he truly was one of the first 'number one fans'.
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