Patti Webster

{{Infobox person

| name = Patti Webster

| image = PattiWebsterHeadShot.jpg

| image_size =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1964|6|18}}

| birth_place = Somerville, New Jersey, United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|9|13|1964|6|18}}

| death_place = Somerville, New Jersey, United States

| alma_mater = Virginia Tech

| occupation = Publicist, author, Christian minister

}}

Patti Webster (June 18, 1964 – September 13, 2013) was an American entertainment publicist, author, and minister. As the CEO of W&W Public Relations, a company she founded in 1991, Webster represented notable recording artists, athletes, and actors, including Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Usher, Halle Berry, Chris Paul and Holly Robinson Peete.{{cite web|last=Associated Press|title=Patti Webster, Publicist to Stars, Dies of Cancer|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/patti-webster-publicist-stars-dies-cancer-20251741|work=September 13, 2013|publisher=ABC News/Associated Press|accessdate=September 14, 2013}}{{cite web|last=Mitchell|first=Gail|title=Noted Industry Publicist Patti Webster Dies|url=http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/5695262/noted-industry-publicist-patti-webster-dies|work=September 13, 2013|publisher=Billboard|accessdate=September 14, 2013}}

Early life and education

Born in Somerville, New Jersey, Webster majored in engineering and operations research at Virginia Tech. After a series of summer internships, Webster decided not to pursue a career in engineering. Moving to Maryland, she took a job in 1985 as a marketing and publicity assistant at BET, then a fledgling network. In 1988, Webster moved to New York.

Career

= Public relations =

In New York, Webster worked at several entertainment-related companies, eventually working as an assistant at Jive Records where she "fell in love with publicity." Subsequently, she was hired by Rogers & Cowan; during her three-year tenure at the company, she worked with Quincy Jones’ Qwest Records, Stevie Wonder, Julio Iglesias, Gloria Estefan, Diana Ross and Celine Dion. In 1991, Webster founded W&W, a public relations agency focused on representing African-Americans,{{cite web |last1=Armstrong |first1=Joy|last2=Wilson |first2=Wendy L. |title=The Sharpest Image |url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/21526029/sharpest-image |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407082207/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/21526029/sharpest-image |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |work=August 2006 |publisher=Essence |accessdate=September 14, 2013}} signing her first client, Stephanie Mills, shortly thereafter.{{cite web|last=Tamarra|first=Ray|title=Patti Webster Founder & President|url=http://thecrusade.net/2005/06/aaprc-weekly-patti-webster/|work=June 7, 2005|publisher=The Crusade|accessdate=September 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128234810/http://thecrusade.net/2005/06/aaprc-weekly-patti-webster/|archive-date=November 28, 2010|url-status=dead}} By 2013, Webster had built W&W into a highly respected and influential public relations agency,{{cite web|last=Hicks|first=Jonathan P.|title=Publicist Patti Webster Has Died at 49 |url=https://www.bet.com/article/yt071e/publicist-patti-webster-has-died-at-49|work=September 13, 2013 |publisher=BET |access-date=September 13, 2013}} representing celebrities in a wide variety of fields, including Patti LaBelle, BeBe and CeCe Winans, Ludacris, Kelly Rowland, Dwight Howard, and Steve Harvey, as well as organizations including Creflo Dollar Ministries and BMI.

In 2008, Ebony honored Webster with an Outstanding Women in Communications award.{{cite web |last=Maul |first=Kimberly |title=Ebony honors outstanding women in communications |url=http://www.prweekus.com/ebony-honors-outstanding-women-in-communications/article/153857/ |date=May 1, 2008 |publisher=PR Week|accessdate=September 13, 2013}}

= Author, minister, and community service =

Despite her success as a publicist, Webster said that her real job was to spread the word of Jesus Christ. Raised in a family of clergy – her father, mother, great-grandmother, grandmother, and grandfather were pastors – Webster authored the book It Happened in Church: Stories of Humor from the Pulpit to The Pews in 2008.{{cite web|title=Laughing From The 'Pulpit To The Pews'|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98021988|work=December 9, 2008|publisher=NPR|accessdate=September 13, 2013}} A collection of humorous stories from friends, pastors and celebrities, Webster said "I think that if God created laughter, it isn't to be excluded from church. I think laughter is to be everywhere."{{cite web|last=King|first=Gayle|title=Humor in the Church|url=http://www.oprah.com/oprahradio/Humor-in-the-Church|work=November 27, 2008|publisher=Oprah|accessdate=September 13, 2013}} Webster was ordained as a minister in 2011 and served as a deaconess at Shiloh Pentecostal Church in Somerville, New Jersey, where she grew up.{{cite web|last=Nededog|first=Jethro|title=Patti Webster, Veteran Entertainment Publicist, Dead at 49|url=http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=827275|work=September 13, 2013|publisher=MSN/The Wrap|accessdate=September 14, 2013}}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

She served as a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), on the boards of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and the TReach (Therapies Reaching & Educating Autistic Children) Foundation, and on the Make-A-Wish Foundation's Marketing Mavericks team.{{cite web|title=Entertainment industry mourns loss of veteran publicist Patti Webster|url=http://www.nj.com/messenger-gazette/index.ssf/2013/09/entertainment_industry_mourns_loss_of_veteran_publicist_patti_webster.html|work=September 13, 2013|date=September 13, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Messenger-Gazette|accessdate=September 14, 2013}}

Webster died of cancer at a hospital in Somerville on September 13, 2013.