Girls with Bright Futures
Page 34
To Crystal Patriarche and the BookSparks team: thank you for playing such an integral role in our debut launch. We are grateful to have you on our team!
To Taryn Fagerness: thank you for all your efforts on our behalf.
To our meticulous beta readers: thank you for your insightful comments, for your willingness to drop everything and read our latest drafts, and for not laughing us out of the room in the early days—cringe! In particular, giant thanks to Lisa Caputo, David Fallek, Spencer Grayson, Joanne Kennedy, Anne Rees, Katherine Slack, and Margaret Slack. Many thanks also to the people who generously welcomed us into the publishing industry: Sarah Burnes, Carol Cassella, Ming Chen, Wah Chen, Dan Donahue, Andrea Dunlop, Elizabeth Egan, Coralie Hunter, and Kim Scott.
One of the many complicated aspects of writing as a duo is how to thank the loads of additional friends who’ve supported us in so many ways through this journey. Our love and immense gratitude go to: Vibha Akkaraju, Sarah Alsdorf, Michele Bosworth, Mackenzie Caputo, Mark Caputo, Amy Carter, Charlie Carter, Dan Covitz, Lynn Engle, Barbara Fielden, Sally Frankenberg, Terri Fujinaga, Susan Gibbons, Michele Godvin, Salina Gray, Erika Grayson, Lisa Hales, Matt Harris, Alice Hauschka, Barb Herrington, Libby Hill, Gena Hocevar, Jeanne Hoppe, Catharine Jacobsen, Hank Kaplan, Neen Koenigsbauer, Clark Lombardi, Anne Lyons, Vilma Plantz, Naomi Runkel, Lili Sacks, Jennifer Schorsch, Eve Stacey, Sally Swofford, Kristen Sycamore, Ayala Thomas, Effie Toshav, Susie Wertheimer, Maria White, Kevin Young, and Karen Zucker. Special shout-outs to our awesome and ever-available legal consultants, Van Katzman and David Fallek, and our expert medical consultants, Dr. Jonathan Drachman, Dr. Jeoffrey Stross, and Margaret Slack. Finally, around the time we embarked on this second act, our dear friend was setting out to become the first pediatrician ever to serve in the U.S. Congress. To U.S. Congresswoman Kim Schrier: your courage is our inspiration.
Last but not least, we wish to thank our families. For once, this is something we cannot do together.
Tracy: I am grateful for my incredibly supportive and loving extended family across the country, including: Mom and Dad Dobmeier; “Sis” Amy Funke & “Bro” Fred Funke; stepmom Rhonda Friedman; awesome niece and nephews, Anna, Luke, and Nathan; and the Melman/Schwartz clan. To my sister, Carrie: I love you always and wish we didn’t live so far apart. To my wonderful dad, Barry Friedman, and my late and forever-missed mom, Sandy Friedman: thank you for raising me with boundless love and the high expectations that I still try to live up to every day. To my sons, Ben and Matty: I am overflowing with pride and joy for the exceptional young men you have become. My love for you is unshakeable. And finally, to my husband, Eric: my biggest champion, my inspiration, my best friend, and the love of my life—I would be (Wendy, can I buy an adverb?) utterly lost without you.
Wendy: A heartfelt thank-you to my sweet and endlessly supportive husband, Van. James Taylor has always said it best for us: “They were true love written in stone.” To my kids, Jack and Carly: always have the courage to try. I am incredibly proud of you both and love you forever just the way you are. A huge thank-you to my wise and inspiring parents, Jeoffrey and Ellen Stross, for your unwavering love and support to pursue this dream and every other. To Jonathan, you’re contractually obligated to be my brother, but I’m so lucky to also call you my friend. To my loving extended family—the Katzmans, Levines, Roberts, and Team Strong—your encouragement means the world to me. Thank you in memoriam to my grandpa Oscar Schwartz, who instilled the mindset of being a lifelong learner.
About the Authors
Photo © Kristen Sycamore Photography
After supporting each other through two decades of motherhood, Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman thought: “Let’s write a book and really test the friendship.” Several years later, their friendship is not only still intact, but they would even go so far as to grade it an A+. With such a perfect GPA, maybe they should apply to Stanford? Just kidding! They would never leave Seattle where they live (not together, though it often feels that way) with their husbands, pets, and last remaining school-age kiddo. You can find them at dobmeierkatzman.com and @katzndobs on Instagram. Or in Tracy’s kitchen.
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