Is Debbie Tilley Available?

Is Debbie Tilley available?
On June 28, 1995, yes that was 15 years ago, my rep, Richard Salzman received a call from the art director at Gallaudet University Press. Is
Debbie Tilley available to do samples for an up coming project? We're going to be publishing a signing dictionary for children, needing
around 1000 illustrations.... and that's how it all started....

Fast forward 15 years:
On December 4, 2010, Richard, my rep received an email from the Editorial Director of Gallaudet University press, they were ready to get started
on the Children's Sign Language Dictionary! I think that is the longest lead time in freelance history! As it turned out, I had been illustrating children's picture
books nonstop for a long time. The thought of doing 1,000 individual drawings sounded so great to me, I couldn't wait to get started.......

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Later Dude, I Mean, Bye Oprah...

One of my California Christmas t-shirts
Quite a few years ago I illustrated and produced a line of t-shirts with the theme "California Christmas". One of  my bright ideas was to send a box of them to Oprah Winfrey.  One day I came home and on my answering machine was a message from Oprah Winfrey herself!  She just wanted to call me to thank me for the shirts.  One of the designs was of this reindeer looking up from a surfboard at a giant wave.  The caption was " Think Big".  At the end of Oprah's message she added, " I'm thinkin big girl".  Yeah, Oprah's the real deal.  This doesn't have anything to do with the dictionary, but  since this seems to be celebrity week here on my blog, and it's her last show tomorrow, I thought I'd throw it in. Plus, it's a pretty cool story...bye Oprah.

2 comments:

  1. Wow Debbie, that is a great story! I wish her show was going to still be on when this dictionary is published, as it would have been a great venue on which to promote the book. I do think other day time shows will be receptive to featuring such an monumental book.

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  2. That is a fabulous story!!! You must have been in shock to hear that on your answering machine!!! Oprah is the greatest, so that is something to be so so proud of! Wow!!

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