Hi! My name is Doc and I am a Sternoholic. I have been a fan of Howard Stern and his genius for many years (since the WWOR days), but for some reason in October of 1999, when Howard announced his separation from his wife Alison, something snapped. An emotionally crushed and devastated Howard talking about his failed marriage of 21 years was the most compelling and riveting radio I had ever heard. I have been hooked ever since, listening to each show it's entirety each and everyday, whether live or on tape.
When Howard told the world he and his wife were calling it quits, my knee-jerk reaction was to write the poor sap a letter, something that I had never done in the past with any celebrity (I'm not really impressed with the whole celebrity thing). Within days, my letter, bad grammar, spelling errors and all was in the mail to Howard. In this letter I took great joy in calling the KING OF ALL MEDIA a "BIG PUSSY" several times for wah-wah-wah-ing on the air. HAHAHAHA !!!! So much for compassion. Along with my tough-love comments I also included the porno tape, 'Mrs.Buttfire'. In this movie the 'mysterious' male stud spits on, slaps, pinches, degrades, and literally punishes the ladies in every hole possible with his
massive 10" member (To this day still one of my favorite movies). My prescription to Howard was to watch this tape every night for 3 weeks and, no doubt, it would help him to understand just how REAL men treat their women.

I was convinced with this knowledge he would win back Alison, tell his 18 million+ audience how much I helped him, and successfully launch my new revolutionary approach. Screw psychiatry, Doc's PORNO-THERAPY had arrived. I didn't get any response. They didn't even send my movie back (I asked for it back after Howard was cured so that I could use it again to help others). Did he even read my letter? Did he even watch my tape, the greatest porno ever made? A few more letters followed and again no response. Then one day months later, to make a very long story short, I received in my mailbox two autographed 8x10s of Howard direct from the studio. It was the coolest thing in the world to receive something in the mail besides bills and junk mail and something from someone whose work you admire to boot! Put down the golf clubs. My new hobby was born.

Autograph collecting is one of the fastest growing hobbies in America with over 3,000,000 strong and an additional 25,000 joining the ranks each year. Although many collectors have general collections, most collectors focus on one individual, event, or team, etc... Some collect only New York Yankees. Some have a goal to collect the autographs of only Baseball Hall of Fame members, etc... My focus is solely Howard Stern and the people associated with his show. Since receiving those autographs from Howard I have managed in my spare time to collect close to 100 autographs of people associated with the show along with some very interesting Stern memorabilia (Just added Jeff "The Vomitmaster" Levy's FMMY last month, scotch tape and all).

Each month I will showcase one or more items from my collection which I have on display in my office (The Howard Shrine) and give you the background on the piece along with the where and the how to help you start or add to your own collection. Need a hobby? Consider autograph collecting. Need a really fun hobby? Look no further than Howard Stern and the craziness that surrounds him. It doesn't get any better.

If you have any questions about autograph collecting, or any comments or suggestions for this monthly discussion please email me at howardshrine@aol.com. Thanks to Dean for this great opportunity to share my stories, my collection, and my passion. See you next month and Bababooey to ya all!!!