More Shelley remembrances

I'm still deeply saddened by Shelley's passing. When my former co-worker Kevin Cahillane heard the news, he wrote the letter below to the other Draft executives:

"I was Shelley’s assistant at Ammirati & Puris in 1995. It was my first real job and my first day was her 40th birthday. There was cake, candles, joy and song. In fact, you could say that most days about Shelley. In my position, I managed to misplace petty cash, misfile expense reports and generally mismanage my menial existence. Shelley thought I was in the wrong position. She thought I should be a writer. Nine months later, she promoted me. I had no portfolio or prospects at the time, just desire. I didn’t know an OE from an AE. Shelley would have been a great teacher. She recognized passion. She taught me rule 1-A in my writer’s handbook: have a conversation with your reader.

Three years later, I left Ammirati to go to film school at USC (oh yeah, Shelley gave me a job when I didn’t even have a degree). I remember being a nervous wrecking ball before going into her office and giving her the news. I felt like I was somehow betraying her commitment to me. She hugged me, of course, when I told her. “I think that’s where your writing wants to go,” she said. My last day was the last day of the year (or December 23 or so on the advertising calendar) and Shelley was out of the office with the flu. I was so relieved. I didn’t want to say goodbye. I still don’t.

While I have precious few trophies, awards or songs written about me, I owe my writing career to her. It is a debt I will simply try to pay forward."