Dead File (35 page)

Special thanks to the irrepressible
Susan Richman,
the patrician of New York Public Relations; and
Kim Dower
of “Kim from L.A.,” Susan’s counterpart in La-La Land.

And to the wonderful women of Warner Books: publisher
Maureen Egen,
the mother of us all; editor-in-chief
Jamie Rabb,
the first to read Maxi Poole and run with her; production editor
Penina Sacks,
who went to the mat with me on the minutiae of grammatical correctness (she won); and astute and exacting
Karen Thompson,
who dazzled me with her canny input.

To my literary agent
Robin Rue,
who brought Maxi Poole home to the women of Warner, and who guides Maxi and me on our adventures.

To my super-readers: author/screenwriter
Linda Palmer,
social conscience of
Dead File;
brilliant comedy writer
Gail Parent,
my partner on the TV show
Kelly & Gail,
who loves brainstorming plot twists over a bottle of wine; and gorgeous
Gale Hayman,
cofounder of Giorgio, Beverly Hills, Maxi’s arbiter of taste and fashion.

Hugs to playwright
Marvin Braverman,
who feeds me ideas along with Maxi’s (and my) favorite veggie burgers.

Eternal gratitude to
Shawn Kendrick
of Borders, who walks behind me with a wheelbarrow full of my books at outlandish events (on the Santa Monica Pier during an afternoon cloudburst, on the pitcher’s mound at Dodger Stadium during seventh-inning stretch) and manages to hang on to both his aplomb and his cash box.

I am indebted to NBC-4 News editor
Bart Cannistra,
my ever-patient computer guru;
Terry Beebe
and the gang at the NBC Credit Union for letting me monopolize their copy machine; actor/screenwriter
Bob Factor
for helping me out of some deadline jams;
Jim Alvarez,
head of NBC Wardrobe, for suitably dressing both Maxi and me; and
Patti Hansen,
head of NBC Travel, for keeping Maxi and me flying between the palms of Los Angeles and the publishing canyons of New York.

My gratitude to restaurateur
Ron Salisbury,
who throws me book parties and feeds me besides; to
Barbara Jean Thomas,
the
real
B.J.; and my voice-over agent
Sandie Schnarr,
who actually likes having Sandie Schaeffer named after her.

Special thanks to
Dr. David Walker
of the Los Angeles Church of Religious Science, who teaches calming metaphysics to Maxi and me; and to wonderful
Vera Brown,
the grande dame of TV’s
Shop NBC,
for mentoring me in life and literature.

And my profound adoration goes out to Maxi Poole’s spiritual family, my fascinating sister
Ellie Poole,
and the whole
Poole
clan. And always and forever, eternal love and gratitude to my sturdy bookends,
Kelly Lansford,
my princess daughter, and
Alice Scafard,
my incredible mom.

IF YOU LIKED DEAD FILE, AND YOU’D LIKE TO SPEAK TO ME OR MAXI (WE’RE VERY CLOSE), VISIT OUR WEB SITE—WWW.KELLY-LANGE.COM. BOTH OF US WOULD LOVE YOUR COMMENTS AND INPUT FOR OUR ONGOING “MAXI POOLE” SERIES. (IF YOU DIDN’T LIKE DEAD FILE, IN THE WORDS OF THAT GREAT NEWSWOMAN ROSANNE ROSANNADANA, “ NEVER MIND. ”)