Kay Thompson (70 page)

The award for championship goes to my literary agent, Peter W. Bernstein, who tirelessly helped me shape my avalanche of material into something palatable—and managed to get Simon & Schuster on board. I also want to thank his father, Robert L. Bernstein, Kay Thompson’s business partner in Eloise Ltd., and a marketing genius behind the
Eloise
books at both Simon & Schuster and Random House during the late 1950s. Bob not only shared hilarious stories, he also suggested I meet with his son for representation—a match that has proven to be “pure heaven.”

Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for my editor at Simon & Schuster,
the legendary Alice Mayhew, Vice President, Editorial Director. Like Kay Thompson coaching Audrey Hepburn to become a supermodel in
Funny Face
, Alice was my “Maggie Prescott,” turning this green first-time biographer into an overnight sensation (well, at least a published author). In our very first conversation, she boiled it down to one haiku mantra: “Keep it saucy.” Words to live by, too!

I also want to thank the amazing support team at Simon & Schuster, including Karen Thompson, Associate Editor; Roger Labrie, Senior Editor; Jackie Seow, Vice President, Executive Director of Trade Art; Nancy Singer, Design Director; Jonathan Karp, Executive Vice President and Publisher; Victoria Meyer, Vice President and Executive Director of Publicity; Brian Ulicky, Publicity Manager; Nina Pajak, Marketing Manager; Leah Wasielewski, Senior Publishing Manager; Aileen Boyle, Vice President and Associate Publisher; Jon Anderson, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Children’s Publishing Division; Justin Chanda, Vice President and Publisher of Books for Young Readers; Elisa Rivlin, Chief Counsel, Legal Affairs; Marie Florio, Associate Director, Subsidiary Rights; Tristan Child, Managing Editorial Assistant; Gypsy da Silva, Associate Director of Copyediting; and Loretta Denner, Senior Copy Editor.

Full-circle, I absolutely must must must bow down and thank the great Hilary Knight for drawing all those indelible images of Eloise that captured my imagination when I was growing up. I first met Hilary in 1995 at a signing for the 40th anniversary reissue of
Eloise
, but I got to know him much better during our first sit-down interview in 1999. Since then, countless conversations developed into a lasting friendship that I appreciate beyond words.

And last, but certainly not least, I want to thank my partner since 1982, Gary Bowers, for putting up with me and for patiently living through my never-ending journey to document the larger-than-life story of Kay Thompson.

E
very fact in this book has been substantiated, but the notes are so extensive, the only practical thing to do was to publish all of them online, at
www.kaythompsonwebsite.com
.