The story of a nice guy and an autograph

          Years ago your loyal blogger had the good fortune to meet Jay Leno and now the truth behind his success can be revealed: People watched the Tonight Show with Jay Leno because he is a really good guy and that simple truth reached out through television sets and connected with viewers.

          How it all happened is unimportant, but I was offered the opportunity to attend a racing gathering at Leno’s garage several years ago and I jumped at the chance.

We did not know for certain whether Leno would be there that afternoon. Obviously, your loyal blogger and everyone else in the group hoped Leno would be there and there was a happy reaction when we saw him ride in on one of his motorcycles during the tour of the garage.

Truth be told, the chance to see the Leno garage and all the great cars and motorcycles was every bit as attractive as the chance to meet the star. If you are a car guy, Leno’s collection is stunning. Every car, truck and motorcycle is in running condition. That’s more than most museums can say. Leno drives them all himself. There was also a massive steam engine that was very old and it was undergoing restoration.

Leno spoke to our group when the tour was over, offered to help with the project in various ways. I recall that he referred to several people by first name, so some of the folks more completely involved with the project had obviously already met with him.

When the gathering was over, your loyal blogger headed home, intent on getting down the road before traffic got heavy. But halfway to the car the thought occurred that while I had met Jay Leno, Mrs. Leeway had nothing to show for it, since she was working that day.

Turning around, I returned to the garage and nearly bumped in to Leno himself. Pulling a notepad out of my pocket, I offered him a pen and asked for his autograph to give to my wife. Leno’s answer was a quizzical look.

He asked, “You don’t want it on that, do you?”

I had a great comeback. I said, “Well, yeah, I do.”

“Come on with me,” Leno said. “We can do better than that.”

Like a puppy looking for a home, I followed Jay Leno through his garage, past all the cars I had enjoyed looking at earlier, and into an office. He opened a desk drawer and flipped through some business folders crammed with pictures until he found one he liked.

I forget the name of the car, but it is a long, silver roadster with (I think) two Allison aircraft engines crammed onto the chassis. A smiling Jay Leno is leaning against the car.

Leno asked my wife’s name (for the curious, I did not tell him, “Mrs. Leeway”) and then wrote, “Yo Amy, let’s race!” and signed his name.

Leno did not have to let me back in the garage after I had walked out. He didn’t have to sign an autograph. He surely did not need to go to his office, pull out a photograph and give it away. And he had no reason at all to personalize the autographed photograph he gave me for free.

But he did all of that and I’ll never forget it. He was affable, friendly and patient. I have met other famous people who have none of those traits, but Jay Leno has all of them. I know. I’ve seen it.

Funny as he was on television, he is that nice in person.

I wish Jay Leno well going forward. I’ll miss his late-night humor, but I know the guy who was so nice to me will still be spending time in his garage and I’m glad about that.

 

Thanks for reading.