For Robert Garrison, it wasn't enough to run 26.2 miles in a Grand Rapids marathon to raise money for neurofibromatosis research. Not when he owns rapper Eminem's old mailbox, and it's just sitting there.
That's why you, too, can soon log on to eBay and bid on the mailbox that was once in front of the home in Sterling Heights where Eminem, whose given name is Marshall Mathers, once lived.
"The neatest thing about it is the junk mail with his name on it," said Garrison, 44, a production manager for Automotion Inc. in Ann Arbor.
The junk mail - some of which is addressed to Mr. Mathers, some to Eminem, and some to his ex-wife, Kim Scott - goes with the mailbox to the highest bidder in the auction, which begins Sunday and lasts seven days.
Garrison bought the mailbox for $75 off eBay a couple of years ago after he heard the owner of Eminem's former home talking about it on the radio.
"I wasn't going to bid on this thing, but it was unique, and I got it for next to nothing," said Garrison.
After he won the auction and learned the shipping was so high, he decided to drive over to Hayes Road in Sterling Heights to pick it up himself. The homeowner invited him in for a tour of the house, and to look at some other Eminem memorabilia.
The mailbox is a big plastic Rubbermaid model, which Garrison said Mathers bought after people repeatedly destroyed his other ones.
Garrison got a notarized letter from the former owners of the mailbox to prove its authenticity, which he'll give to the new owner when the auction ends.
Garrison is running the marathon in honor of his 15-year-old nephew, Joseph Ehrli, who has NF, a genetic disorder of the nervous system.
From: http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008 ... l_t_1.html
