Debbie Behan Garrett

Debbie Behan Garrett has been a black-doll enthusiast since 1991. Her passion for collecting vintage-to-modern black dolls led to the publication of two groundbreaking black-doll reference books: The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls, Hobby House Press, Inc., 2003 (the first full-color black doll reference), and Black Dolls: A Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion, 2008 (the first self-published, full-color black doll reference). Her third publication, The Debbie Garrett's interest in collecting black dolls commenced after the 1991 catalog purchase of a 'collectible' porcelain doll intended as a gift for her daughter. After the doll's arrival, the decision to keep the doll and to begin a collection ensued. Her avid interest in black-doll history prompted research on dolls made during and before her childhood. She began freelance writing in 1998 for Black Doll-E-Gram. Prior to writing her first black-doll reference book, The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls, Hobby House Press, Inc., 2003, Ms. Garrett's efforts to connect with other like-minded collectors culminated in founding the WeLoveBlackDolls Yahoo! Group, in January 2001. In February, 2002, as co-founder and editor of The Black Doll-E-Zine, 'the first and only e-zine devoted to collecting black dolls,' her doll research, writing, and networking with doll collectors and artists continued.

In 2008, Garrett self-published Black Dolls: A Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion, a full color book which references and values over 1000 black dolls. Her most recent work, The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak I Listen, first introduced as an eBook and sold through Google Play, became available as an ultra-limited edition paperback in April 2011. The Doll Blogs is the first book featuring dolls that blog.

As an associate member of Motor City Doll Club, Garrett is also a member of the United Federation of Doll Clubs and has contributed to UFDC's Doll News quarterly publication. Garrett's articles have also been published in Doll Castle News, Contemporary Doll Collector, British Doll Showcase, DOLLS Magazine, DollReader, and Fashion Doll Quarterly. Since 2008, she has maintained the Black Doll Collecting blog at Blogspot.com

A native Texan, Garrett is the married mother of two adult children, and doting granny of two precocious boys. Her non-doll-researching/collecting time is spent working as a CMT-credentialed, home-based auditor for a leading global provider of clinical documentation.