My Unlikely Mentor

He died nearly two decades before I was born -- September 30th, 1955.

And yet, I have a man I never met to thank for opening countless doors for me. Even the ones others convinced me would be locked.

Thanks to James Dean, I learned how to dig for information, the art of perseverance, persuading strangers to let down their guards, storytelling and how to dance with discomfort.

I'm confident Dean had an impact on my college acceptance, on making my resume stand out before I had real experience and for giving me the foundation of confidence I would need years later to pivot and co-launch TALLsmall Productions.

I keep thinking back to age 17 and all the moments that became life direction catalysts. Those moments all connect back Dean and to the generosity of his family members, friends, and his early mentors.

It all began with a New Jersey high school paper. We had the choice to research and write about anyone. I'm still thankful to my teacher Paula Roy for honoring my request to make James Dean my subject.

As I set out to research his story, I remember becoming mesmerized with the fact that many of the people I saw quoted were still living. Unlike previous research projects, where all of my information came from encyclopedias, (I wonder if that's a word my kids even know), it excited me that I could play a real role in this paper.

Somehow, my high school allowed me to use the front office to make countless calls to New York and to Dean's hometown in Indiana in the name of researching my famous subject. This was back when you paid by the minute for long distance. Being naive, I am not sure it dawned on me that it would be difficult to reach the people central in his life.

As I encountered names in books and articles, I taught myself to track the people down, primarily using 4-1-1 since .com didn't exist. I began with possibilities in reach and as I found listings for people, asked for introductions for those harder to find.

I had the chance to listen to stories over the phone and ultimately in person that year from Dean's former Indiana high school drama coach, another teacher from his high school days who would later host my dad and me for a few days at his home, a first cousin whom Dean grew up with and the late photographer Roy Schatt, who was famous for his portraits of Dean, Marilyn Monroe and other icons.

Once I turned in the paper, I was hooked on the adrenaline of finding people and wanted to see where I could market my interviews. I wound up selling my story to Seventeen Magazine. While the magazine never printed my personal essay, they paid me what seemed like a huge sum at the time of $125. It also became one of my college application essay topics and I remember shaking when the a University official later shared my story when highlighting members of our incoming freshman class at an orientation gathering.

Freshman year of college, I returned to Indiana for a second time. Only, this visit became another catalyst. I was invited to share the stage with Jame Dean's then 80-something high school drama coach and to give a keynote speech at his memorial ceremony. I broke every rule that I now follow. I scripted out every word, clutched the podium and shook like crazy. The speech wasn't all at stake. I had sold the story to People Magazine, after finding a name on the mast head and practically stalking a writer there until he agreed to let me cover the ceremony. I had two men accompany me on the trip. My dad... and People sent a photographer from LA to meet up with me to do the story. I'm sure he was a bit perplexed to find out that he would be partnering with a teenager, who probably looked more like a tween at the time.

Once again, another life lesson awaited. I pulled an all nighter the night I flew back from Indiana to Boston, to pull the story together and get it turned in the the next day. Only a member of the Royal Family happened to die that week and my story wast cut down to a fraction of my original word count. It was too short to score a byline but did earn the promised paycheck.

To this day, when I am on the fence about facing a new challenge, I think back to the teenager who didn't take no for an answer. I wonder how my career trajectory may have looked different, had I chosen a different subject for that original essay and what moments happening in my children's lives now, will carve out their future paths.