The September Backword piece “Hardly a cause célèbre” is poor journalism on par with the poor excuse for magazines sold at checkout counters. Your comments are beneath The Globe, People, Star, and Us Weekly — combined! Mr. (to you) Tony DeFranco is a personal friend and neighbor. His appearance on our cover with his own Yorkie was not “too far down the celebrity food chain,” as you put it, but rather a perfect combination of gentleman and princess appealing to our target audience. This was not an attempt to impress anyone with a “celebrity,” as you call him; he’s a realtor for Sotheby’s. The only “backfire” from his appearance on our cover is the negative comments from your publication. This catalog drop at the beginning of summer, a typically slow period for our industry, produced one of our best response rates. Our customers don’t have to know or care who he is; apparently only you do. There is nothing “backword” about our marketing efforts, only your innuendoes.
John Grieco, president G.W. Little