Alumni Spotlight: Rick DeDonato

A look into the life of a Jersey boy—from a Manhattan ad agency creative guy to children’s book author—alumnus Rick DeDonato’s life has been anything but ordinary.

Self-proclaimed Jersey boy, Rick DeDonato, was born in Totowa, New Jersey, just twenty miles from Manhattan. He grew up influenced greatly by two creative forces in his life—his parents. His mother, Audrey, was the type of artist who could draw anything just from looking at it, and his father, Emil, owned an advertising agency in Manhattan, where DeDonato enjoyed being surrounded by the creative company of artists and designers. “The agency was very small and more of a design firm since advertising was really in its infancy at the time,” recalls DeDonato. “We lived in North Jersey and my brothers and I would take the bus into the Port Authority and knew exactly what subway to take to his office. Dad told us to ‘ride in the very first car and make sure the engineer can see you.’”

His parents encouraged DeDonato and his two older brothers, Ralph and Bob, to engage in and learn from everything New York had to offer—from museums to Broadway to Yankee Stadium. On some of those trips to their dad’s office in the early 1960s, DeDonato and his brothers would wait for him to go to the afternoon Yankees games and DeDonato would hang out with the designers in his studio. “They used to draw up a scorecard with places for all the players and nine innings so we didn’t have to buy one when we got to the games.” But for all of the education his dad gave him on New York, the greatest lesson his father taught him was a bit more philosophical: “If you run into a rock, you can stay there and keep banging your head against that rock; or, you can go around it and keep moving forward.”

DeDonato always knew he wanted to work in advertising, so when the time came to begin his college search, he looked for schools that offered degrees in the field. At the time, Penn State was one of only seven colleges to offer a degree in advertising. A series of some strange events led DeDonato to Penn State Altoona. On his first visit with his parents, he was impressed with the beautiful campus. He enjoyed what would have been defined at the time as five trimesters at the college before transferring to University Park to complete his long-chosen degree in advertising. When asked to reflect on his first impressions of Penn State Altoona, DeDonato states, “I chuckle that I was a New York kid with big dreams who went to the little town of Altoona. Although I was a bit in shock at first, I went on to fall in love with everything Penn State.”

He loved his time at Penn State Altoona and University Park. Reflecting back, he attributes his success in his field to the involved professors and the program’s equal emphasis on both the business side of advertising and the creative process. DeDonato made lifelong friends, had wonderful experiences with faculty members, and enjoyed successful work-study positions. At Penn State Altoona, he met Chuck Galbraith and they have been friends ever since, DeDonato serving as the best man in Chuck’s wedding and Chuck serving as an usher in serving in his.

DeDonato’s first big advertising accomplishment happened at Penn State. Datsun, now Nissan Motors, used to run an annual advertisement contest with colleges across the country, encouraging students to submit an advertisement idea for one of the company’s cars. In 1976, Penn State’s assignment was for the Datsun 280-Z. DeDonato submitted his ad concept, which was selected as the winner. The ad was featured in the magazine America: The Datsun Student Travel Guide 1976. He received a $100 check presented by John Flynn, who represented Datsun’s ad agency, Parker Advertising. For his big win, he received a handwritten congratulatory note which hung in the Carnegie Building. In addition, his story was mentioned in The Daily Collegian and he was interviewed on the Penn State radio station.

After graduation, DeDonato landed his first job at a New York City ad agency as a junior art director. Looking back, he credits his understanding of creative thinking to his mentor and creative director, David Wiseltier and Mark Levit, who he describes as “a crazy, creative account executive.” DeDonato then went on to work as an art director for Doyle Dane Bernbach on Madison Avenue. In 1982, he moved to Philadelphia where he was a creative director at two different ad agencies and in 1989, he became a partner in his own ad agency in Wilmington, Delaware.

Throughout his career, DeDonato has written, directed, and produced all forms of advertising for print, radio, and TV and has received numerous awards, including two East Coast American Advertising Awards (formerly the ADDYs). He has worked with and directed several well-known personalities, such as Steve Allen; S. Epatha Merkerson, who played Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on the TV crime show Law & Order; and NFL stars, Howie Long and Roger Staubach. He is currently marketing director of Royal Pest Solutions in Delaware.

Working with some “stars” in his advertising career, DeDonato learned a lot. “One thing I learned is pretty much what my dad told me about everyone out there, ‘They all put their pants on one leg at a time.’ It’s really true, they are just people and if you talk with them and treat them respectfully and professionally, they do the same right back.”

DeDonato’s favorite person with whom to work was actress S. Epatha Merkerson. DeDonato was hired to make a video about how to deal with someone you know who is a victim of domestic violence. “I thought it would be great to start the video with Ms. Merkerson making a statement about how serious an issue this is and to watch the rest of the video. I wrote to NBC asking if she’d be interested in doing it. To my shock, her agent wrote me back and said she would be happy to do that,” states DeDonato. “When I asked about a fee, the agent said all S. Epatha wanted was for us to shoot it in NYC, provide a limo to take her from the set of Law & Order to the studio where we were shooting, and provide her with a fruit tray and some iced tea. She was an absolute professional and sweetheart to work with.”

Throughout the years, DeDonato enjoyed playing around with short stories and illustrations. When DeDonato’s two children were young, he often wrote and illustrated personal stories and books for them. One particular character, Pipsie, inspired by his daughter’s childhood imaginary friend, grew into something much bigger. Pipsie’s story has led DeDonato to a successful career as a published children’s book author. What was once a cartoon appearing in short stories for his children was transformed into a fully illustrated character. Pipsie was brought to life in a series of books entitled Pipsie, Nature Detective.

“Pipsie, Alexis’ invisible friend, used to be with Alexis everywhere; it was pretty funny how she would talk with her no matter where we were,” recalls DeDonato. “One rainy Saturday, when Alexis was 4, we sat down with a pad and pencil and I started doing sketches of a little girl and showing them to Alexis to see if that was what Pipsie looked like. We created a character by Alexis telling me the different features Pipsie had, like big eyes and long hair. I used that drawing to create little books for Alexis. When I created the book series for a nature detective, I just used that name.”

The first book, Pipsie, Nature Detective: The Disappearing Caterpillar, came out in March of 2015, and the second book, Pipsie, Nature Detective: The Lunchnapper, followed in April 2016. Pipsie and her sidekick, Alfred Z. Turtle, use clues they find in nature to solve the mysteries of nature. The stories teach children to use the scientific method to investigate and record their findings to figure out how nature works. Both books have been recommended by The School Library Journal and The Library Connection, and classrooms across the country have implemented the books into their curriculum. The third book, Pipsie, Nature Detective: Turtle Trouble, is scheduled for release September 2017. To learn more about these books, visit pipsienaturedetective.com.

“Pipsie started as ‘Pipsie, the pipsqueak entomologist,’” says DeDonato. “The initial idea was that she was‘a little girl who was an expert on insects … the Doogie Howser of bugs.” DeDonato then wrote up one story and had his illustrator friend Josie Yee sketch out the first look for Pipsie. Together they created a dummy book and Yee showed it to several editors with whom she worked. Susan Lurie, the editor for the Goosebumps series of book, was interested and found a publisher for Pipsie. Although the publisher ultimately insisted on using a different illustrator, DeDonato is thankful to this day for all Yee did to get Pipsie published.

Being an author has presented DeDonato with some unique experiences. The American Association of University Women, whose mission is empowering women, invited him to speak about the creation and evolution of Pipsie, Nature Detective. States DeDonato, “I can’t tell you how odd this all seemed to me. When the AAUW first asked me to make a speech at their luncheon, I turned them down. I said I knew nothing about empowering women.” When he asked the group why they wanted him to speak, they explained that it is because Pipsie represents the type of young girls they support—strong, smart, independent and interested in the sciences. DeDonato then accepted. “It was one of those times in life that I learned that sometimes you have to start something to figure out where you are going,” states DeDonato. “I really had no idea how my speech about ‘How Pipsie came to life’ would relate to a group of professional women until I was about halfway through writing it. It was a good lesson for me to try before just saying ‘I can’t.’” In his speech at the AAUW Annual Luncheon, DeDonato explained Pipsie was brought to life, in large part, thanks to the belief and talents of numerous women. The character was inspired by his daughter’s imagination, and all of the major contributors to the book—his friend who helped develop Pipsie, the illustrator, editors, and the public relations consultant—are women.

DeDonato attributes his greatest success in life as being a dad to his two children, Alexis and Matt. It is no surprise that they too have found success in creative professions. Alexis, an actress in California, has performed on Broadway, on national tours, and has appeared in television shows and commercials. Matt is a professional barber and a lead singer and songwriter in a band.

DeDonato and the “glowing light” in his life, Nancy McAleer, live in Wilmington, Delaware. The two enjoy a “ridiculously busy” life with their dog, Nacho, and turtle, Alfred E. Turtle. DeDonato proudly stated, “Nancy showed my kids what love should be. She is a wonderful ‘other mother’ to them—always at their plays, performances, schools, games—anywhere she was needed. She has also been an inspiration to me and to developing Pipsie and her character.” After quietly reading the first draft of Pipsie on Easter Sunday, McAleer told DeDonato that it would be a success. Smart woman.