“When I recognized his handwriting on the letter, it was a bit of a shock. I immediately put it back in the envelope,” confides Thibault Christophe. This 37-year-old from Toulouse, fan of singer Jean-Jacques Goldman since childhood, received a letter on September 18 from his idol to whom he had addressed his book featuring a fan of the singer.
In his novel, entitled “Diary of a Fan”, Thibault Christophe wanted to tell the very special bond between a groupie and her idol, by drawing on his own memories. “I had already started a fan journal and I told myself that there was an interest in doing something more literary,” he explains. I immersed myself in my memories of his concerts, his songs, while remaining in a fiction since I even imagined that we had a working relationship. »
“He had very nice words”
Thibault Christophe, who was in a writing residency in Astaffort (Lot-et-Garonne) with Francis Cabrel, a regular there, asked him to transmit the work to Jean-Jacques Goldman. After a few months of waiting with no return from the singer, Thibault Christophe decided this summer to send his book to the Jean-Jacques Goldman fan club, accompanied by a letter explaining his approach.
The miracle finally happened with the receipt of this handwritten letter from the singer who responded to him personally. “The fact that he knows that I exist as a fan is great and he had very nice words in the letter, saying that he was touched by my approach, even if the subject of the book was not doesn’t necessarily please him since he only reads the newspaper L’Équipe, the Toulouse fan understands. I obtained some form of recognition and visibility from him. So the circle is closed. » The Toulouse resident now keeps the precious and unique missive on his desk.