Former HarperCollins Senior Director of Publicity Dee Dee Debartlo recalls what it took to launch an Elmore Leonard book the right way: ambitious tours, sharp packaging, and a publisher that treated Dutch like the literary heavyweight he was. She worked seven-plus campaigns — including the art-book edition of Ten Rules of Writing — and says the in-house team “loved Dutch” and made sure the coverage matched the work.
She remembers schedules where Dutch landed three separate New York Times hits for one book, plus marquee TV spots — the sort of coverage publicists usually have to fight for. On the road, die-hard readers followed him city to city; in New York and L.A., old friends and editors turned signings into reunions. She helped throw his 85th birthday party and still smiles at how many editors, agents, and writers showed up to pay respect.
There were inside-baseball moments too: the complete westerns reissue, the gleaming jackets they treated like poster art, and a set visit to Justified while Tim Olyphant and Graham Yost were shooting — a neat circle from When the Women Come Out to Dance to FX. “We were proud to publish Dutch,” she says. “It showed.”
In one of the video’s best moments, Dee Dee tells a party story: legendary agent Andrew Wylie turns to William Goldman and asks, “So who are you?” Goldman fires back, “Who the fuck are you?” It brought the house down — and summed up the rooms Dutch moved in: critics, movie royalty, and industry lifers who knew exactly how good he was.
She closes with a simple tribute:
“One of the most rewarding experiences of my career was working with Dutch… He was a wise man and a good friend. I adore Dutch, and I think about him often.”
