| A Survivor's Kit for the Celebrity Personal Assistant | | | | watched in awe as from the stage, with mic in her |
| (or Anyone with a Pesky Boss) | | | | hand she gave the three guys running the |
| I have to admit that one of the most fun parts of | | | | soundboard a good solid berating for everyone within |
| being a reviewer is that you learn something new | | | | a mile radius to hear, and the concert wasn't due to |
| every day. It was not until I had read Dealing With | | | | start for another 2 hours. The poor guys had glazed |
| Divas that I realized there was an association solely | | | | expressions on their faces, and were obviously |
| committed to the plight of those that work for the | | | | wondering why the hell they had taken the job! |
| famous. Well there is, and it is called The Association | | | | While Dealing With Divas is clearly aimed at the niche |
| of Celebrity Personal Assistants. | | | | market of Personal Assistants that work with the |
| I am not a personal assistant to a celebrity, but I | | | | sometimes eccentric and egocentric, it is a delightful |
| certainly understand the issues involved. Being a | | | | little read. It is by no means a 'show and tell,' there |
| reviewer and interviewer I play on the edge of the | | | | are no wild revelations about your favorite star, but |
| celebrity world. Some of the folks I have worked | | | | there are some truly funny anecdotal tales. |
| with are indeed 'different.' My favorite story concerns | | | | My one criticism of Dealing With Divas is that it is not |
| an interview I had scheduled with Keith Emerson, I | | | | nearly long enough. You just start to enjoy the |
| called him at the prearranged time of noon, and get | | | | subject, and maybe speculate about some of the |
| his answering machine, I leave a message and move | | | | situations, and Shelley Anderson pulls the rug out |
| on to the next project. It had been a long day, so | | | | from under you, there are no more pages to read! |
| about 9pm my wife and I call it a day. The next thing | | | | She shares one wonderful 'agony column' letter that |
| I know is my wife Jan shaking me awake, and saying | | | | she received that I think really encapsulates the |
| "Honey, you are going to hate me, the phone rang, I | | | | entire industry of dealing with the rich and famous: |
| thought it was Joey (her 15 year old son), so I think | | | | I'm fed up. My boss is unappreciative of how I got |
| I have just been rude to Keith Emerson." | | | | her on a fully booked, nonstop flight from New York |
| On the whole I have found the rich and famous to | | | | to Bangladesh. She was unhappy that it was a 757, |
| be fairly easy to get along with, but on the other | | | | not a 747, and that the seats were blue and not |
| hand I have seen up close and personal just how | | | | maroon. |
| demanding the Divas can be. Last summer my wife | | | | What a fun read, you can find out more at the |
| and I were the invited guests of a very famous | | | | Dealing With Divas web site, and order your copy |
| singer, he wasn't a diva, but his wife certainly was. I | | | | from Amazon. |