Call Me Anna: The Official Patty Duke Webpage is lucky enough to have the author of this book,

Stephen Eberly, write about his interest in Patty Duke and how he came to write

Patty Duke: A Bio-Bibliography.

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I was in sixth grade when The PD Show premiered in September 1963.  I saw the first episode and was

hooked!  Over the next three years, I only missed one episode (Patty's Private Pygmalion)

- and remember - there were no VCRs, so you either saw it when it was broadcast, or you missed it.  This

was a big time commitment for a young kid like me!  I had a crush on PD (I actually preferred Cathy - she

was more like me) and of course, I wanted to be Ross.  (I even wrote a script where the Lanes adopted

another boy - me of course - so that Ross wouldn't be lonely at home!!)  I was already very interested in

TV, and started a scrapbook with TV Guide clippings of each episode, articles about Patty, etc., I continue

this collection to this very day.

When the show was canceled in 1966, I wrote several letters of protest to ABC, and actually boycotted

ABC for 2-3 years, because they canceled a lot of my favorite shows in 1966 - Ozzie and Harriet,

Donna Reed, Gidget, Farmer's Daughter.

Anyhow, I continued admiring Patty and collecting on her over the years.  I always thought I was her

number one fan (until I met you and David of NY) (I still find it hard to refer to her as Anna, since I've

called her Patty for so many years)

In 1970, as a freshman in college, I bought a book entitled Actors' Television Credits, by

James Robert Parish.  I noticed some errors, wrote a tactful letter, he responded and we became friends. 

He eventually recommended me to other authors who needed info, and over the years I have contributed to and received acknowledgments in over two dozen books.

In the early 80s, I was asked to be Research Associated for Universal Television, by Jeb Perry.  A few

years later, my friend Jim Parish was in charge of a Bio-Bibliography series at Greenwood Press, suggested

that I should do a book on my own, and he actually suggested Patty Duke, since he knew I had a lot of info at my fingertips.  (Remember, this was pre-Internet).  I wrote up an outline, it was accepted and the book

was published in 1988.  Voila!!

                                                                                                          -Stephen Eberly