Devi Gershbain is a Garth Brooks superfan in the flesh. The
30-year-old trucker from Winnipeg has "permanent proof of (her)
temporary insanity" tattooed on her right arm.

The self-proclaimed "Ultimate Garth Brooks Fan" has seen Brooks in
concert 10 times and will be in Fargo for his trio of shows this
weekend.

It's her mission to meet the man himself.

In 1996, she organized a rally in conjunction with a Brooks concert
in Winnipeg and collected 3,000 pounds of food for charity. Brooks
agreed to meet her backstage, but Gershbain couldn't make it
because of a prior engagement, her brother's wedding. Brooks left
Gershbain an autographed guitar.

When Brooks played his mammoth free concert in New York City's
Central Park last year, Gershbain was there, front and center.
Thanks to her tattoo, Gershbain ended up on the cover of the next
day's New York Post. She was also interviewed by the likes of
Newsweek, Time, People, USA Today, NBC and CNN.

Gershbain insists she's not obsessed with Brooks, rather she's a
"giant extremist" simply following her dream.

I spoke to Gershbain last week during a telephone interview from a
truck stop.

Tell me about the first time you saw Garth in concert.

It was October 1993 in Winnipeg. A guy handed him a saxophone -
I think it was during the fourth song - and I just went, "No, don't
start playing that. I think I might start crying." And sure enough, I
started crying.

I don't think I stopped crying for about a week after that. It was
very overwhelming and very emotional.

Why did you cry?

It was a such an incredible build-up to finally see him live. And then
you see him live for two hours and then he's gone. It was a
fabulous experience and then it was like, now that he's gone, now
what do you do?

What first attracted you to Garth?

It was Dec. 25, 1991, if you want to be really precise. I was
listening to the song "The Dance." And I think for the first time ever
I actually listened to the words and got a meaning behind the song.
And I lost it right there. I just had a short circuit in my brain and
realized I was Garth nuts. And I have been since.

So I know when it was instigated, but I honestly can't answer what
it is about him. I just think he's very genuine and he's very real.
Anybody can write a song and anybody can sing a song, but
they're not the same as what Garth does.

How often do people ask you if you're crazy?

It's more like they think I'm beyond crazy. (laughs) But that's cool.
I don't necessarily say I'm crazy. I'm extremely eccentric and I
have been all my life in everything I do. When I do something or
want something or stand behind something, it's always 150 percent.
It's probably above and beyond the energy that most people are
willing to put out for something.

I think every once in a while I'm a little embarrassed, like, "Holy
mackerel, people must think I'm absolutely loony." But, you know
what? I just have the coolest life going. It was cool before Garth,
but it's that much cooler because of Garth.

Tell me about your most memorable Garth concert
experience.

I was at three of his shows when he was in Sioux Falls (S.D.) last
year. I was second row center on the floor one night and I had a
sign that said, "Hey Garth, Devi's tattoo is here."

At some point after the first song or two, everything stopped. He
walked to the edge of the stage and he looked down, motioned to
me, pointed to his guitar, pointed to himself and pointed to me and
said, "Hey, I gave you that guitar, didn't I?"

I was floored, just floored. It was an acknowledgment in front of all
these people that I was in the building and he knew it.

The Fargo shows will be the 11th, 12th and 13th times you'll
see him.

Yeah. I'm not sure about the 13th stuff, but I'm kind of hoping it
will end up being my very lucky number.

I have a suspicion that this will be the last time anybody sees Garth
Brooks tour. He'll continue in the business, but I think there's a very
good possibility we'll never see him tour again.

I've never directly said to someone at a concert, "Listen, I'm this
big fan and I would like you to pull some strings and get me
backstage." I want to be invited.

This time, though, I'm going to ask. Because I figure this may be my
last kick at the cat to actually meet him.

Tell me about your tattoo.

It's my baby. It's 8 inches from top to bottom, 5 inches across. It is
so accurate and so perfect that I get stopped, no matter where I
am. I literally cannot go anywhere without someone stopping me
and saying, "I can't believe that tattoo. It's the most beautiful
thing."

When I was in New York City, I think that next to Garth Brooks, this
tattoo had to be the most-photographed thing in the city that day.
Call it bragging if you want, but I had every news agency, reporter,
magazine and newspaper taking pictures and asking about the
tattoo.

It was a zoo. I had no time to sit down that whole afternoon,
because people were just going wild for it. Which is fine with me. I
mean, it's on my arm. If I didn't want people to see it, I would have
put it somewhere else.

I want to run around and talk about Garth all day long. It's my
favorite subject and the tattoo certainly does that.

But you're not obsessed with him?

I would say Garth is definitely not the totality of me. I can go
without talking about him or thinking about him.

So if you were to actually meet Garth, what would you say to
him?

I would extend my hand and just say, "Thank you." And then
hopefully I wouldn't fall apart. (laughs)

I want to do it right. I want to have time to talk to him. I don't
want to be just another person in line wanting an autograph. And I
want that picture of me standing beside him with a big smile.

So are you the world's biggest Garth Brooks fan?

I would never want to say that anybody is less of a fan than I am
or that I'm some big fan who needs to be noticed. But if there's
somebody out there who's a bigger fan than me, please tell me. I
want to find out what they're doing because I've got to one better
it.