48 Years Overdue: Man Returns Record Checked Out In 1973

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — In the halcyon days of 1973, a teenage music aficionado wandered into the Heights Libraries and checked out a three-year-old album by Bob Dylan called "Self Portrait."

Rolling Stone magazine would later call the album Dylan's "weirdest" record, but added the music is "great." Many of the songs are covers, live recordings, or re-releases of older Dylan hits. It was a departure for the Nobel Prize winner, but it is now remembered for its gleefully indulgent eccentricities.

Little did eighth grader Howard Simon know he would hold onto that "weird" album for nearly half a century. Simon, then a Wiley Middle School student, brought "Self Portrait" home and then quietly added the record to his collection. The album stayed there until this month (that's nearly 48 years overdue, for those keeping score).

This week, Sara Phillips, manager of the University Heights branch of the Heights Libraries, was having a routine day, checking off her daily tasks, when she noticed an odd package in the mail pile.

“I got a package in the mail from San Francisco that was record-shaped and – lo and behold! – it contained a record from our collection that was due back in June 1973!” Phillips said.

Accompanying the vinyl record was a letter from Simon.

“As a recent retiree, I am taking the opportunity to turn my attention to some of the many vignettes of life that by dint of career and family have been neglected these many years,” Simon wrote. “In that context, I am returning with this letter an overdue item (by my count, approximately 17,480 days overdue as of this writing)….it’s quite late, and I’m quite sorry!”

While sorting his personal collection, Simon stumbled upon the Heights Libraries' "Self Portrait." It was sandwiched between his copies of Dylan's "Nashville Skyline" and "New Morning."

The album sleeve for "Self Portrait" is in rough shape, Simon said. That deterioration is partly the result of his "nomadic life" which saw him travel from University Heights to Chicago to Santa Fe to Los Angeles to Berkeley to Chicago to Berkeley to Chicago to Sacramento and finally to San Francisco.

"I'm pleased it survived at all," Simon said.

The record itself is in pretty good condition though and in addition to returning "Self Portrait" Simon also made two donations to the Heights Libraries.

The first is a "replacement fee" of $175.

The second item is a copy of Simon's own album, "Western Reserve." Undoubtedly influenced by years of listening to Dylan, Simon recorded his own records, one of which he sent to the library. The album is being reviewed by the Technical Services Department to see if it can be added to the library's music collection.

“The funny thing about this is that we don’t charge overdue fines anymore--as long as we get the item back, we see no need to penalize people,” Phillips said with a laugh. “We’re grateful that Mr. Simon returned the record. I’d said we can now call it even.”