When author and publishers are high on the commercial-grade potential of a raw book , they ’re often uncoerced to invest the time and disbursal necessary to arrange for in - person signings at bookstores , conventions , or other events . fan can get a ( fleeting ) chance to interact with their favorite writer , and writers get a reasonable luck of developing early - stage carpal burrow .
alas , not all of these meet - and - greets go smoothly . Take a flavour at six prison term Christian Bible fan and generator dumbfound more than they bargained for .
1. THE PALTROW INCIDENT // CHRISTINA OXENBERG
Despite a literally royal blood — her female parent is Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia — generator Christina Oxenberg ( Royal Blue ) was feeling something other than revere during a 2013 book signing at the East Hampton Library . In this multi - writer event , Oxenberg wasseated nextto Gwyneth Paltrow , who was publicise a recipe appeal titledIt ’s All Good . The problem , as Oxenberg later take down in a web log post , was that the renown of Paltrow totally consumed her contiguous vicinity , with buff of the actress entombing Oxenberg ’s table and block her from the view of passersby . When Oxenberg go to get something to eat , Paltrow ’s bodyguards blocked her from repay to her bottom . Instead , she crawled under the table and admitted to making " a plate of miniature muddy burger , stinky steak sandwich , and the like and hauled it back to my piece of table " in an endeavor to chafe her neighbor .
2. THE INK ATTACK // VAL MCDERMID
Scottish criminal offense writer Val McDermid was give a lecture at Sunderland University in 2013 when shenoticeda peculiar woman in the audience . The adult female was fall apart a wigging and glasses , a fairly obvious and clumsy camouflage . When McDermid segued into signing books for the crowd moments later , the woman set about the author and asked her to signal a copy of her 1995 nonfictional prose Holy Scripture , A Suitable Job for a Woman . After McDermid abide by , the fan produced a feeding bottle of ink and tossed it at McDermid . At a hearing in which she was found guilty of ravishment , the womanhood — identified as Sandra Botham — appeared horrify at a paragraph in the book that described a person named Sandra as being shape “ like the Michelin Man . ” Botham assert McDermid was referring to her , despite the fact the two had never met .
3. THE SPIT CRITIQUE // JANE FONDA
In 2005 , noted actress / physical fitness icon / activist Jane Fonda released her autobiography , My Life So Far . In it , she details her life and career up and through her public denunciation of the Vietnam War in the other 1970s . The latter apparentlydidn’t sit wellwith a Kansas City adult male , who waited patiently in line during a sign language so he could have the opportunity to reset the throat chewing tobacco in Fonda ’s face when his turn came . After being charged with topsy-turvy conduct , the human race — a 54 - class - old Vietnam veteran constitute Michael Smith — recite the press that he did n’t regret the incident and label Fonda a “ traitor . ” The man was haul off ; Fonda continued to sign books for those remaining in line .
4. A FUR-RIOUS REACTION // KELLY ROWLAND
Former Destiny ’s kid member Kelly Rowland write a parentage memoir titledWhoa , Babyin 2017 . Signing the Word in Ridgewood , New Jersey , Rowland wasconfrontedby several creature activists who had pretended to be fans to enter the store . Once inside , they produced preindication and begin chanting “ Fur trade , death deal , ” assert Rowland “ has blood on her hands . ” Their ire was channelise at the fact that Rowland had been shoot in the yesteryear wearing fur clothing . After some embarrassing discussion between Rowland and her associates , the protesters wereescorted out . Singer Patti LaBelle experienced asimilar incidentwhile she was promotingDesserts LaBelleat a Barnes and Noble in New York .
5. THE LESSER-KNOWN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT // MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
In 1958 , civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. was signing copies of his account book , Stride Toward Freedom , in the shoe part of a Harlem department store when a charwoman approached . After she confirmed the man was indeed King , she bring on an eight - column inch varsity letter opener andplunged itinto his chest of drawers . Surgery saved King ’s life , thoughdoctors fearedthat if he had so much as sneeze , he might have died — the weapon ’s edge had settled on his aorta . While in the hospital , hetold a reporterthat his assaulter , Izola Curry , was in pauperism of genial help . “ I ’m not angry at her , ” he added . Curry was committed to mental and assisted living founding before her death in 2015 .
6. THE FLYING TOMATO // SARAH PALIN
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin proved to be a divisive presence during the height of her ill fame in 2009 , when she published a book titledGoing Rogue . As she signed copies at Minnesota ’s Mall of America , a mankind positioned himself on a balcony near her table . When the import seemed correct , hebegan lob tomatoesin her direction . Instead of hitting Palin , he managed to swash the vegetable on a security officer instead . Busy autographing books , Palin did n’t even notice the airborne intellectual nourishment — she had to be told about it later . The attacker , 33 - year - erstwhile Jeremy Paul Olson , was hold back . Policediscoveredadditional tomatoes on his person .
