'People' editor Kate Coyne discusses new book, 'I'm Your Biggest Fan'

Sandy Kenyon Image
Monday, August 15, 2016
'People' editor Kate Coyne discusses new book, 'I'm Your Biggest Fan'
Entertainment Reporter Sandy Kenyon has the story.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- When it comes to celebrities, Kate Coyne has just about met them all. Now, the executive editor at People Magazine is putting her Hollywood tales together in a book that takes its title from what many people say when they meet a celebrity.

It's called, "I'm Your Biggest Fan: Awkward Encounters and Assorted Misadventures in Celebrity Journalism."

Coyne is a student of stardom.

"God was definitely extra generous when he was creating George Clooney," she said. "I have to say, my impression of him, it's that he's exceedingly patient."

Melissa McCarthy writes thank you notes after every interview, and Amy Schumer was just as down-to-earth when celebrating her Emmy win.

"I asked her, you know, if she planned on starting out with shots or wine, like what was she going to be drinking first?" she said. "She looked at me and said, 'Well, shots of course.'"

However, the fame Coyne writes in her new book is not for the faint of heart.

"Everything can be dissected on social media," she said. "And anybody can take a picture if you at Starbucks when you're having a bad hair day."

Coyne weighs the bad with the good as executive editor, yet she also proudly calls herself a fan girl.

"If you buy People Magazine, if you watch 'The Bachelorette,' and if you are obsessed with who's going to wear what to the Oscars, I'm with you," she said. "I am 100 percent with you."

She wrote her book as a way to explain what it takes to do her job.

"It requires the hide of a rhinoceros and the tenacity of a tiger," she said. "You just have to keep on keeping on."

The goal is to gain a glimmer of insight into what makes a star glow.

Former President Bill Clinton has more star power than anyone else, but he's tied with Tom Cruise.

"If he is there to talk to you, you are the only person who exists," she said. "It's a heady intoxicating feeling."

"I'm Your Biggest Fan" is an honest book, but Coyne advises against saying that if you meet a celebrity. Instead, she urges a fan to be as specific as possible and try to explain briefly and specifically what an artist's work has meant.