Smithsonian Magazine reports the tale of Joseph Mikulec, an autograph collector who walked 100,000 miles over 14 years to collect the stories and signatures of the rich and famous. During the early 1900s, Mikulec visited 26 countries and collected 50,000 autographs, which he preserved in a leather-bound journal that eventually weighed more than 60 pounds.
According to Mikulec, a Croatian publishing company promised him thousands of dollars if he could walk 25,000 miles in five years and write a memoir of his experiences. He was not allowed to beg or take charity, but could sell postcards with his photo. The collection eventually included the signatures of President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, President William Howard Taft, 48 U.S. governors, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford, and many others. British King George V did not sign, but his two sons, the future Edward VIII and George VI, did.
Mikulec is a character looking for a story, possibly a few. If that doesn’t inspire you, consider a character who undertakes a similar effort that takes them across 26 countries and 100,000 miles. What reward would drive a person to such extremes? What stands in their way? What happens next?
