Sorry, but the recall was "birthed" long before the first signatures were gathered.
1. Popular support was raised by Melanie & Lee.
2. The petition was written and then we forced the Secretary of State to approve it in time to get it on a special election. He wanted to either never approve the wording, or delay it until the March primary where all the RATs would come out to vote, but the conservatives would know who their presidential candidate was & would be less motivated. Credit for this one also goes to Melanie and Lee. (BTW this was no small feat. Wording had to be just right and legal, had to be in exactly the right format or Shelley would have rejected it, etc.)
3. Forcing the Secretary of State to approve it in time for the special election was key, and this was definitely Melanie & Lee.
4. Only after steps 1-3 had been completed could the petitions even be circulated.
Eric may have been responsible for the first petitions turned in, but this was not the birth of the recall. I don't doubt that he is a very solid conservative, but give credit where it is due.