Kate Reynolds, general book buyer at Colgate Bookstore, Hamilton, N.Y., shared this recent delightful encounter:
"Amanda Gorman was at Colgate University for our Global Leaders lecture series this past weekend. The University Events office organized the event, and there was no booksigning in the deal.... We figured we'd still sell lots of her books, and wanted to promote the talk, so we did a window and table display....
"[On Friday] someone walks up to me, and it's Amanda Gorman, in a Colgate winter hat she'd been given, a puffy jacket and a backpack. She was walking all around town incognito, saw her books in the window, stopped in and asked if we wanted her to sign them. We grabbed a chair and set her up in the middle of the sales floor, and she signed everything we had. She was just so lovely to everyone. She had a long talk with a 10ish-year-old about writing poetry, and dealing with life. She complimented our Poetry Month display, and was a joy to be around."
Pictured: Gorman (center) with Kate Reynolds (l.), general book buyer, and staff member Lisa Kenyon.