I’m honored that those who helped to create Mary, Rhoda, and the rest of the indelible Mary Tyler Moore characters shared their stories with me. This book is based on published accounts and other research materials (specified in the endnotes to follow) as well as hours of interviews, email conversations, phone calls, and more email conversations with creators James L. Brooks and Allan Burns, MTM executive Grant Tinker, former CBS executives Fred Silverman and Michael Dann, and many of the writers and cast members (not to mention superfan Joe Rainone, an invaluable resource). I cannot thank them enough for helping me with this dream project. I must in particular mention my deepest gratitude to those who went above and beyond, helping me to secure interviews with others, sending me photos, calling in favors, giving me detailed feedback on memories, and sharing very personal stories with me: Valerie Harper, Allan Burns, Treva Silverman, Pat Nardo, Gloria Banta—your generosity knows no bounds. If there’s a reason Mary Tyler Moore succeeded, it is because of wonderful spirits like you. If this book is any good, it’s for the same reason.
While I’m at it, I must thank my own wacky cast of characters. Thank you to: Jesse Davis, for two years of editing on demand and endless conversations about this one damn TV show from the ’70s; the most inspiring editor/publisher ever, Jonathan Karp; the agent who changed my life, Laurie Abkemeier; Simon & Schuster MVP Nicholas Greene; my readers, Heather Wood Rudúlph, A. K. Whitney, Allison Hantschel, and Gavin Edwards; my transcriber, Katie Lucas; those who gave me shelter, food, and wine during research trips, John and Diane Katz, Carter Covington, and Patrick Sean Smith; those who gave me shelter on my self-imposed writing retreat, the nuns at the Grail; and the ever-helpful librarians who got me everything I needed from Smith College’s Gloria Steinem Papers.