Suburgatory
Page 20
To my sisters Joellen, and especially on this project, Terry (plus Benno and Ron), who pushed me to get a backbone.
To the amazing Laura Yorke and Carol Mann at the Carol Mann Agency in New York, to Steve Fisher at APA in Los Angeles, and to attorney Eric Rayman. And thank you to Willow Bay, for connecting me to Laura Yorke. Laura saw just a few writing samples in 2009 and said, “You must write something.”
Laura placed this book with another superstar, Lara Asher. Besides being a terrific, turbo-charged editor, Lara got the material instantly and is just a lovely, spunky force. And thanks to project editor extraordinaire Meredith Dias for her expert execution.
To beloved college friend, architect David Tabenken. David named this book, and I am only sad his wonderful mom, Helen, along with my own Mommy, aren’t here to see David’s title appear on national television. To my Aunt Nancy, Uncle Matt and J. Spellman, among the few people left who knew and loved my Mommy and Daddy.
To my favorite Reuters anchor, Jen Rogers, who fought hard alongside my sister in making this project happen. I consider Jen a sister in everything but blood. The same goes for my dearest college friends—Rachel Laiserin, Lisa Epstein Jay, Tina Hohn Schissel, Geri Clark, and Ashley Gravelle Morse—as well as CNN’s finest, Rachel Brown (who brought me sisters-in-crime Peg Rettino and Joanna Joplin) and all-around producer/ball-buster Amber Briscoe. And to my honorary brothers: scary-smart journalist Chris Nolter, my first friend at CNN and someone I still treasure all these years later, and the brilliant Dr. Scott Schissel.
To bosses and boss-friend hybrids who accepted my considerable idiosyncrasies over the years: Steve Rosenbaum/Pam Yoder, Kathleen Campion, Kathy O’Hearn, David Bohrman, Jen Zeidman Bloch and Gene Bloch, the late Jeff Gralnick, Andy Breslau, Warren Kozack, Terry Baker, the irrepressible star-producer Kara Kasarjian, and especially Jenny Harris, a force of nature I was blessed to sit next to and learn from for years. Jenny makes that Holly Hunter character in Broadcast News look like a slacker.
To Hillary St. Pierre of Baldie’s Blog, whose courage against cancer leaves me slack-jawed daily, and to her son Xander, who’s even braver than she is.
To Arianna Huffington, who, at a dark moment confidence-wise, responded to an email seeking help in, oh, forty-five minutes? Thank you.
To some of the real parents of Suburgatory, the friends I’m lucky to have in town: Adam, Alex, Alexandra, Carl, Dan, Doug, Glenn, Glynis, Jen, Jeremy, Jim, Julie, Laura, Liz and Liz, Mark, Michele and Michele, Molly, Nancy, Naoko, Sandra, Sarah and my book club ladies, Suzanne, Valerie, and Yuki. I left out last names, in case I get run out of the state and some of you get run out with me.
Finally, the two groups people who made Suburgatory bearable besides my actual family and helped save me from postpartum depression: my Facebook family (those I know IRL, and those I don’t). Wish I could name you all. You deserve your own sitcom. I’m working on it.
And, a diaspora of comrades who have fed me ideas and friendship and I needed a lot of both for this book: Adam, Alda/Bo, Alex, Alexandra, Alicia, Allison, Amanda, Ami, Amy, Andre, Andrea, Angela/Paul, Anne, Annemarie, Antonella, Antonetta, Bruce, Caitlin, Caleb, Cheryl, Chris, Christine, my “Church Ladies,” Claire, Clint, Colby, Colleen, Dan, Dana, Daniel, Dave, Debbie/Ed, Derek/Manon, Diane, Dianne, Eddie, Elaine, Elizabeth/Kati, Ellen/Tom, Eric, Erin, Evelyn, Evelyn/Andy, F & E, Fitz, Flip/Tom, Frankie, Fred, George, Gretchen, Gudveig, Harold, Hasmeena, Iain, Ildi, Inger, Jackie, Jagger, all the Jennifers, Jess/Dan, Jessica/John, Jill, Jim/Geoff, Jodi, Johanna, Jonathan, JTL, Judi, Judy, Julia, Julie, Karen, Kate, Katey, Kelli, Kellie/Jens, Kerry, KimChi, Kirsten, Kirstin, Kitty, Laura, Leanne, Leslie, Leyea, Lindsey, Lisa, Liz, Lobo, Luis, Lynne, Marc, Marcia, Marcy, Marina, Mary Anne, Melissa, Merideth, Merlynda, Michelle, Nancy, Nicole, Pat, Penelope, Peter, Rebekka, Rev, Ripu, Rob, Robin, Roo, Robin/Lee, Roo, Russell, Ruth, Sally, Sarah, Sarav, Scott, Shane, Sharon, Sherman, Steve/Kyle, Sue, Susan, Susswein, Suzanne, Tanya, Tarun, Theresa, the Thibodeau and Morlock cousins, Tina, Toby, Tod, Todd, Tom, Tommy, Tony, Trader Guy, Tricia, Vanessa, Varman/Sarwat, and Wendy. Love to all!
About the Author
Linda Erin Keenan spent seven years as a CNN senior producer/head writer for top anchors including Anderson Cooper, Aaron Brown, Willow Bay, Stuart Varney, and Lou Dobbs during 9/11, the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, the Dot Com rise and fall, several key national elections, and the New York City Blackout. Before that, she was at Bloomberg TV. It was 9/11 that pushed her to re-evaluate her 24-7 lifestyle, eventually trading it all in for baby and suburbia. Her first-person essays have appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine and the Huffington Post. She invites readers, especially the craziest ones with lots of problems, to friend her on Facebook.