This week's cover subject, Franklin Spinney, the Defense Department maverick who dares to challenge the Pentagon's most basic assumptions and procedures, can expect several packages in the mail from a small but dedicated group: readers who collect autographed TIME covers. These determined souls track down the address of each subject, then mail off the cover, requesting a signature. Some collectors have stalked their quarry for as long as six years; others have sent as many as twelve letters before landing signed trophies for their walls at home.

The hunt demands both resilience and resourcefulness. Says Michael Grady, a Brighton, Mass., pediatrician who owns about 800 signed covers: "I pursue autographs the way reporters go after stories." When Columnist Drew Pearson (1948) turned him down, Grady reminded him that journalists themselves depend on perseverance. Pearson signed. Arthur Kaminsky, a New York City attorney with 750 covers, addressed one unsuccessful request to "Ayatullah Khomeini, Tehran, Iran."

Ann and Howard Lawrence of West Hollywood, Calif., parents of TV's Vicki Lawrence, who have accumulated more than 2,000 covers, achieved their goal in 1958 with a letter simply sent to "John Gunther, Inside New York." But their hobby has exposed them to many unanticipated hazards. British Prime Minister Clement Attlee (1945, 1950, 1954) held out until the Lawrences sent him money for postage, Mahatma Gandhi (five-time cover subject) until they donated 10 rupees (then $3.32) to the Indian poor. After the Lawrences wrote to the King of Belgium (1949), the King's administrators contacted the U.S. State Department, and the Lawrences were checked by the FBI. President Miguel Aleman of Mexico (1947) rejected TIME'S portrait of him and instead returned a jumbo 4-ft. by 5-ft. picture of his own choosing.

Sometimes there are unexpected dividends. The Lawrences began exchanging Christmas cards with Duke Ellington (1956) and Egypt's President Nasser (six-time cover subject). Dan Austin, an academic administrator from Plantation, Fla., with almost 400 covers, found that his initial request to Hubert Humphrey (twelve-time cover subject) resulted in a warm, ongoing correspondence. And Kaminsky received a signed cover from William Holden (1956) two months after the actor died. Presumably, it had been cached among Holden's papers, then dutifully dispatched by his executors. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.