Autograph Collection Graces Walls of Laurens, Iowa Pub

John Stumpf looked around at the space that would be Rumors Pub and, like an interior decorator, envisioned what should be on the walls.

But it wasn’t paint or wallpaper or fabric.

“I’m a real movie buff and I thought we should do something unique with the walls,” said the 16-year-old. “I thought it would be fun to have autographed photos on the walls.”

Once Ken Kunickis and his wife Nancy (John’s mom) bought the space in 2004 at 135 N. Third St., in the Pocahontas County community, John set out to gather the photos.

“I went to a Web site called movieeye.com and it had some good addresses but it cost money,” he recalled. “Then I found star-collection.net and they had thousands of addresses for celebrities.”

Among the first to come in was Alfred Molina in his Doc Ock get-up from the Spider-Man movie. Some days John would find 40 to 50 of them in the mailbox.

“I stopped getting the mail,” Nancy Kunickis confessed.

“It was just awesome to get these autographed photos from actors and singers and athletes,” John noted.

But he wasn’t entirely dependent on traditional methods to get the autographs. John bought George Burns and Daniel Day Lewis photos for display. John also took it upon himself to submit favorite photos in hopes they would be autographed.

“I love this photo of Al Pacino from ‘The Godfather’ and John Travolta from ‘Pulp Fiction,’” he said.

Sometimes the turnaround from writing and sending to receiving was quick; other times it was slow, John said.

“I think the one I waited for the longest was for the actor inside Big Bird, Caroll Spinney,” he said. “That took three years.”

Although many of the photos just bear a signature, a number of them have very personalized notations. Martin Sheen signed his photo, “Your Number One Iowa Fan, John Stumpf.” He also included a personal note that read in part: “John, Thanks for your note. Sorry I’m so long responding.”

“I like the famous people, but I like the obscure people, too,” John pointed out. “I have one from Jared Fogle, the spokesperson for Subway.”

John, a sophomore at Laurens-Marathon High School, did not see stopping the autograph collecting any time soon.

“It might be tough when I go to college,” he admitted.