A couple of days ago, Greenpointers put out an all-points bulletin for a very special item—a signed 1991 paperback copy of Judy Blume’s revered Are you there God? It’s me Margaret which tragically went missing last week.
Perhaps some of you may have even seen the scotch-taped signs of featuring the worn cover of the book clung to lampposts all over the neighborhood.
The culprit behind the treasured book’s disappearance comes from none other than a loving husband named Leonard Lasek, who accidentally threw out the book while cleaning up his apartment. According to the neighborhood notice, Lasek admitted, “I accidentally gave this book away on Saturday July 25th in a box on the corner of Green & Franklin. This book is extremely important to my wife. It was a keepsake from her mother and is irreplaceable. On the inside cover is a note that reads ‘Christmas 1991.’ If you happened to pick up this book can you please get in touch with me.”
Good news for the trouble husband, Judy Blume got on the case.
“It’s a wonderful story. It’s so sad and sweet and poignant,” Blume told the Daily News, just minutes after she tweeted her intentions to help. “My husband and I are packing to go on vacation tomorrow, but we’re trying to get in touch with this poor husband that did this terrible deed to his wife.”
As it turned out Lasek’s wanted posters took a viral hit last week, eventually with his sad request landing directly into the famed author’s twitter feed. Funny enough, the Greenpointer has been out of town for the past couple of days and didn’t even know what a firestorm was brewing on this side of the Atlantic!
“This is almost unbelievable! This whole story is amazing. I never even thought about the possibility of [Blume] getting wind of this. I was just hoping someone in my hood who has the book returned it!” said Lasek.
According to the Daily News, it was Blume’s husband George Cooper, who first spotted the online SOS distress call and forwarded it his wife. Both Blume and her husband were particularly disheartened by the amount of negative comments hurled at Lasek and wanted to help out.
“This poor guy. I feel for him,” said Blume. “People are calling him stupid, but he just didn’t know. I bet he just scooped up a bunch of old books, you know? We’ll see if we still have that cover anywhere. It will never be the same. It will never say ‘Christmas 1991’ or ‘from Mom,’ but I can do my best. She may have to settle for a newer book, but I will sign it to her and write her a letter. I love interacting with my readers, and I really hope this story has a happy ending.”
Lasek who is recovering from the ordeal took to twitter to send his appreciation to the author. “I’m the terrible husband!!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart…marriage saved!!!” He even changed his profile to this sage advice, “don’t ever clean the apartment”.
As for that missing copy of at the time of writing this, the worn paperback is still at large.