DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal: A Harvest of Memories from the Fan Who Knew Him Best, Paperback

If not for a question I couldn't answer back in 2000, this book probably would never have been written. When DeForest Kelley's biographer Terry Lee Rioux asked me, "How did you go from being a fan-on the outermost reaches of fandom-to being at Mr. Kelley's bedside when he died?" I was struck speechless. Finally, I responded, "I have no idea. That's something only De could answer. I can't speak for him." Terry persisted: "You know the answer. You just have to connect the dots..." The question pestered me. 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 De and Carolyn Kelley weren't just being kind to one of their most ardent fans. I had become a friend. Terry's question led me to re-visit the scores of journals and four behemoth three-ring binders that I had filled with the conversations I had painstakingly recorded after each visit and call. You wouldn't think-as crazy about the Kelleys as I was-that I would have forgotten a single moment. But I had. This is how I discovered, for the very first time, the path that our friendship took. My hope is that my precious journey will bring you as close to meeting "the real McCoy" up close and personal as I was blessed to experience.

About the Author:

Author Kristine M. Smith has been a fan of DeForest Kelley for more than five decades. She has also meandered among his fans at numerous conventions and at individual and collective ceremonies honoring him and Star Trek. She writes: "I have witnessed first-hand the enormous love and the respect people have for De. And I continue to see how people have remained enchanted with him, even following his passing in 1999. Millions of people were immediately and acutely affected by his unanticipated death. Tens of thousands of them expressed outright anguish; feelings akin to losing one's best friend or a family member. A single, cursory visit to just one of numerous DeForest Kelley websites (national and international) proves the veracity of this declaration. "Categorically and undeniably, De became-and will endure as-one of the most-loved and best-remembered personalities in the world. His Dr. McCoy is at the heart of Star Trek's mythology, and Trek is a tenacious mythology which will last, in all likelihood, until the day humans forget how to aspire to a higher standard for themselves and their progeny. "De was my friend, but he was also my hero-one of very few heroes whose durability was sorely tested, yet found to be utterly reliable. I wrote this book to show how deeply De influenced my life and to remind you, his fans and friends, how seamlessly and comfortably he fitted into yours. "I undertook this endeavor for the millions of fans who never had the pleasure of meeting De 'up close and personal.' My sincerest goal for this book is that it will validate every intuition you ever had about DeForest Kelley being one of Hollywood's 'good guys.'" Kris's freelance writing career was launched by DeForest Kelley in 1969. It was Kelley and his wife Carolyn who encouraged Kris to try Hollywood on for size, which she did from 1989 to 2003. Kris served as Mr. Kelley's personal assistant and caregiver during the final months of his life and presented heartfelt sentiments about her mentor at Paramount Studios' memorial service for him in 1999. She has written two books about him.