Enhanced, Expanded DeForest Kelley Title Coming to Amazon in January 2016
“DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal, a Harvest of Memories from the Fan Who Knew Him Best” reaches Amazon just in time for Star Trek’s 50th anniversary
Seattle, WA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The first line on the back cover of DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal, A Harvest of Memories from the Fan Who knew Him Best explains, “If not for a question I couldn’t answer back in 2000, this book probably would never have been written.”
When DeForest Kelley biographer Terry Lee Rioux interviewed Kristine M. Smith for her biography of the iconic Star Trek actor, she asked Smith, “How did you go from being a fan, on the outermost regions of fandom, to being at his bedside when he died?” Smith’s answer, at first, was profound silence. Finally, she responded, “I have no idea. That’s something you would have had to ask De. I can’t speak to that.”
Rioux persisted: “You know the answer. You just have to connect the dots.”
DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal Book Cover by German Artist Olivia Vieweg
The question pestered Smith. “My 30-plus year association with DeForest Kelley had all just seemed so miraculous to me. That’s because I still hadn’t come to grips with the reality that Carolyn and DeForest Kelley weren’t just being kind to one of their most ardent fans. I had become a friend. But I didn’t fully grasp that until the day in March 1999 when I was called in to care for and assist De during the final three months of his life.”
Terry’s question led Smith to revisit the scores of journals and four behemoth three-ring binders which she had filled with the conversations she had recorded after each visit and call. “You wouldn’t think, as crazy as I was about the Kelleys, that I would have forgotten a single moment or detail. But I had! I had completely forgotten scores of our interactions. I discovered that De and Carolyn had called me more than 1000 times. I had called them fewer than 20 times—usually in response to a “Call me” request. So that’s how I finally traced, for the very first time, the path that our growing friendship took. My hope is that, in recounting my journey, I will bring readers as close to meeting and getting to know ‘the real McCoy’ up close and personal in the same way I was fortunate to experience.”
The title—a greatly-enhanced and expanded version of Smith’s 2001 title DeForest Kelley A Harvest of Memories—has more than 55 additional pages of anecdotes (all of them funny) and many rarely-before seen images of the Kelleys and the cards, letters and other treasures from Smith’s Kelley archives.
“My Kelley-centric comedy routines are in it this time, verbatim—the ones I presented to Star Trek audiences at conventions in Oakland, Denver and Baltimore—as are hilariously ‘lustful’ skits about Kelley wearing a blue-and-white-striped shirt (fan favorites in the late 80’s and early 90’s), plus the lyrics of respectful and shameless DeForest Kelley/Dr. McCoy songs written by his fans during a fan club gathering—one the Kelleys ‘crashed’, so they got to meet and enjoy the people who had written them.”
In January, three editions will debut: two soft cover editions, both with full-color covers, one with full color images inside, the other with black and white images inside; and a Kindle version with full-color images inside. (For fans without Kindles, Amazon offers a free online Kindle reader.)
Later in 2016, nearer the actual 50th anniversary of Star Trek (September 8th), it is anticipated that there will be an audio book version narrated by the author featuring a special section at the end with actual voicemail messages that the Kelleys and other notable celebrities (Tippi Hedren, Harve Bennett, A.C. Lyles, Teresa Victor, and others) left for Kris on her answering machine.
“My fondest hope for this book is that it will confirm every suspicion you ever had about DeForest Kelley being one of Hollywood’s truly good guys. He was…and he was far more.”
For more information, logon to hireme.wordwhisperer.net, email the author at kris@wordwhisperer.net, or call (253) 474-6240.
If you’d like to join the pre-launch fun and meet other DeForest Kelley fans, logon to http://on.fb.me/1TJWDHp where you’ll find weekly Tuesday Teaser DeForest Kelley Questions, special articles about the enduring legacy of the actor, and more.
Smith is available for interviews/appearances with local media and via Skype, Google Hangouts and other venues for virtual interviews/appearances.