Cliff Lunn of Bowling Green, Fla. heard Brian Kilmeade of “FOX & Friends” talk on the morning news show about his book signing Friday evening in The Villages.
So Lunn got in his car and drove two and a half hours to the Barnes & Noble at Lake Sumter Landing to meet Kilmeade who is touring in support of his new book “George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution.”
“We watch him every morning,” Lunn said.
Leo Bouchard of Creekside Landing took a 30-second golf cart ride over to the bookstore.
He was on a mission to get an autographed book for his 23-year-old son who graduated Friday from aviation maintenance school.
He succeeded.
Bouchard proudly showed off Kilmeade’s autograph.
The line to meet Kilmeade snaked all throughout Barnes & Noble. The crowd dwarfed the crowd that Newt and Callista Gingrich drew here on Dec. 1 and may have topped the number Sarah Palin attracted on Nov. 18.
Tina and Steve Sloan of the Village of Collier got in line at 5:15 p.m. and were among the first to get to meet Kilmeade at the 7 p.m. event. He was 15 minutes late. He had no entourage.
Kilmeade walked in through the front door of the store and was greeted with enthusiastic applause.
Of course, he had been up early that morning to appear on “FOX & Friends.”
“Do you need a pen?” someone asked.
He said, no.
“I need a beer,” Kilmeade joked.