I just got the most heartwarming letter I have ever received from readers of my books (and I have received literally scores of letters, probably 200+) — and from a surprising place: Russia!
She has given me permission to reprint it in its entirety as long as I don’t divulge her full name. You will understand after reading it. The name she uses is a nickname.
Hello! My name is Tia. I’m 22 and I’m… from Russia. Some time ago my friend bought a digital version of the book you wrote. He shared the book with me recently and I would love to express my gratitude to you. Let me take a little digression…
I have met Star Trek fandom only a year ago, during a very hard period of my life. DeForest Kelley and his character, Doctor McCoy, have become quite a support for me. They, their temper, and attitude towards people have become an example of what a person should be so that our world could be a little bit better. I also watched his other works! And they are brilliant. (Honestly, they’re much better than most recent movies.)
You know.. I’m a very empathic and emotional person, and Mister Kelley is the one person (except my mother.. huh) who can make me cry and at the same moment, give me a sense of calmness, and I’m calming down like a baby. He feels like he’s a very calm, very understanding and kind person… Oh! Please don’t think I’m trying to make him holy! Of course, he was a person who had both – something good and something bad in his personality (More good, of course). I’m simply speaking about things I feel because of him.
Alright, that was quite a digression, sorry. It is hard for me to stop myself when I’m telling about his good influence on me. Let’s get back to you and your book, alright?
One more little digression… You are very beautiful and you have a very warm smile. Like the sun at the start of September…
So… About the book. Keeping in mind that for sure I would cry heavily, I read the end of the book first. I cried for the whole night, feeling how much pain you and his beloved wife lived through. Unfortunately I know how it feels, too, to lose someone very close because of that illness. But you know, I felt better in the morning, because of the thought that now he doesn’t feel any pain and he is in a better place with his wife and his pets. (God, I’m crying again…)
Then I was reading further… It’s all so similar to what we are doing with our friends. All these preparations before the beginning of conventions, little stories “What if?”. Time is passing by, but the fans are always the same. I had a great fun reading about the moment with the striped shirt and that story with shaving cream foam!
Unfortunately, it’s hard for me to find fans of DeForest among people of my age in my country… Here, at my age, most people are starting a family and having kids… And I am.. watching old movies and writing to a person living on the other side of our planet! The whole book is filled with so much warmth and care… Oh, and photographs? They’re marvelous! Especially your serval-son… He’s so cute and big. Your work… It is… Oh, I can’t even tell you what I feel… Today, when the world is filled with madness, your work is a little island of peace and quiet with a lot of support and love… It’s so pleasant when someone has faith in you, isn’t it?
This book also has some moments from your life… You did so much… I am… so proud of you… I’m so happy for you. Oh… CONGRATULATIONS ON THE GERMAN RELEASE OF YOUR BOOK!!!! *Throwing confetti everywhere*
I can’t write you all of my emotions regarding every moment in the book… This letter is quite big already… And I know that it can sound weird… But soon enough, I will probably lose the ability to reach out to you and I would love to thank you when I still have a chance… sigh Thank you so much! You are wonderful person and a friend… And thank you for being with Carolyn while you had the ability. I believe that she valued it a lot. Take care of yourself! With love and endless respect, Tia, a girl who you are helping to believe in the future.. Live long and prosper, Tia
Tia (in yellow) with her friends at a Russian Space Museum
This just goes to show you how something you’ve done can have wide-ranging effects that you never even anticipated. Each of us does this to other people in ways we can’t anticipate, so I’m not tooting my own horn here. I’m encouraging you to realize what kind of impact you have on others without even knowing it. I’m just lucky because I get to hear about it on a semi-regular basis because I write books! Tia has blessed me profoundly just by reaching out, and I don’t think she anticipated that. It’s so easy to discount what we can do to make someone else’s day. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. Just a virtual hug can do it.
I wrote DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal to share what is was like to know the Kelley dynamic duo so people would know for a fact that De didn’t just “seem” to be a nice person. He was a salt of the earth kind of guy. Every time I get a letter that mentions that my book made fans feel that they truly got to know De, it warms my heart. That was my chief goal. But there are times when I realize people get more out of it than that. They get joy, laughter, and hope.
Among the letters and reviews my book has received, a few stand out in my mind as extra special. Tia’s is the certainly the most all-encompassing of them.
I recall one that I received very early on (back in the early 2000’s) after the first edition of the book was published (2001), from a woman who was undergoing brutal chemotherapy treatment for Stage 4 breast cancer . She wrote to tell me that she took my book to the treatment facility to share some of her favorite excerpts with other ladies who were also there undergoing the same treatment, and that what I wrote had elicited laughter and even guffaws from those usually silent, frightened faces.
After I got that, I realized I didn’t need to read any more reviews, thinking “nothing could top that”. (I was almost right about that!) . And it’s letters like these that take the sting out of the scant few bad reviews that the book has received. I think there are three less-than-stellar reviews, all mentioning that they didn’t want to be that up close and personal during his final days (although I didn’t go into great detail about what his final days entailed); they essentially wanted the story to have a happier ending. (Didn’t we all! Alas, it was not to be…)
I’ve also heard from people who said this book filled places in them that they didn’t realize were empty. Wow and wow. What a blessing to be able to do that for (formerly) total strangers!
A business networking friend told me that, in reading the book, he was able to watch me grow from an immature, insecure teenager into a mature, serenely secure adult. I didn’t expect anyone to get that out of the book but, after he mentioned it, I was able to see it. It’s truly amazing what different individuals get from reading it. They bring their own experiences to it and make it their own, and I love that!
Another now-dear friend said that although she knew nothing about, and cared nothing for Star Trek or DeForest Kelley, she bought the book just to help support my writing career, and that she fell in love with De and cried at the end when he died. She said she planned to find and watch his portrayals and watch him in YouTube interviews to catch up on what she missed. Essentially, she became a Kelley fan as a result of reading the book. (And there is precious little about his career in the book. She fell in love with the man, not the actor.)
An aside: My Mom and Dad thought I was “over the edge” about DeForest and Carolyn Kelley (“this mythical couple” as Mom or Dad put it) until they finally met them 20 years after I had, and they became their biggest fans, too. (That story is in the book.)
There have been many other reviews of the book that warmed my heart. I cannot discount a single one of them. When fans and friends let me know what any of my books mean to them, it makes my day.
My books are my children. They will survive me.
I hope they will continue to cheer, help and inspire readers for decades to come. I would love that!
