The Sugarless Plum: A Memoir
Page 20
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is committed to raising global awareness of diabetes, promoting appropriate diabetes care and prevention, and encouraging activities toward finding a cure for the different types of diabetes.
www.ndep.nih.gov
1-800-438-5383
The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) is partnered with the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 200 public and private organizations, including the American Diabetes Association.
www.diabeteseducator.org
A diabetes educator is great to have in addition to a doctor. The American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) is dedicated to providing members with the tools, training and support necessary to help patients change their behavior and accomplish their diabetes self-management goals.
www.dlife.com
This is a great Web site packed with helpful information, personal stories, recipes and interviews with prominent figures in diabetes. They also sponsor dLife TV, a weekly 30-minute show for people with diabetes shown on CNBC.
www.nih.gov/health/infoline.htm
www.nih.gov/health/infoline.htm
Whatever your diagnosis, the National Institutes of Health can connect you with helpful information.
www.diabetesincontrol.com
A weekly e-mail newsletter that summarizes and delivers the most critical information for diabetes medical professionals from over 200 journals, peer-reviewed scientific papers and studies.
The following nonprofit organizations are making a difference in the lives of people with diabetes around the world, and always need support:
www.insulinforlife.org
Insulin for Life is dedicated to providing adults and children with diabetes supplies in areas of the world where they are in emergency need. My personal friend Stewart in Zimbabwe has benefited from their outstanding efforts. I cannot thank them enough for the work that they do.
www.lifeforachild.idf.org
IDF has a program called Life for a Child, which supports the care of close to 1,100 children in over 18 countries worldwide. The program meets the children’s immediate needs (insulin, syringes, monitoring and education), builds local capacity and lobbies governments to establish sustainable solutions.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am a dancer, a teacher, a movement motivator and a speaker. I never thought I would write, nor did I feel an inner calling to do so. When I began this process of writing my story, I knew I would need guidance and help, and this book would not exist without the support, patience and encouragement of many people who all deserve my deepest gratitude:
My agent, Barbara Lowenstein: you believed in my story from the beginning, knew where to take it, guided me and stuck by me as I learned over and over how to best express myself. Thank you.
My wonderful editor, Deborah Brody: you guided me through this process with patience and support, and you, too, believed in my story and helped me get it right. A heartfelt thank-you for your time and expertise.
The gifted team at Harlequin: without all of you this book would never have happened.
Elizabeth Kaye: your words on the page dance; you are as beautiful a writer as you are a person. Thank you for the endless hours of writing and dialoging, and for helping me get my story on the page with grace and honesty. I have enjoyed every moment.
Judy Kerns: I could not have completed this without you. You are brilliant, patient, a pleasure to work with, and saved the day once again. Thank you.
Denise Ritchie, my loyal friend: thank you for all your help, especially in the beginning of this writing process. You are an endless well of insight and love and a blessing in my life.
Debra Greenfield: thank you for your unwavering belief in me, for your generous help as I began this process, and for bringing me to Elizabeth. May we always share the joy of dance together.
Elizabeth Kendall: thank you for your help with the finishing touches on this book, and throughout my dancing life.
Dr. Anne Peters, Dr. Francine Kaufman, and Dr. Lois Jovanovic: you are all great doctors and great women who inspire and guide me. Thank you, Anne and Fran, for your expertise regarding the medical information in this book, and Lois, for suggesting I send my proposal to Barbara, who became my agent.
As a dancer I’d like to thank the many teachers who influenced the artist I became, specifically Sheila Rozann, whose love of ballet opeed to me a world beyond anything I ever dreamed.
The writing of this book aside, I would not be where I am today psychologically and emotionally were it not for the many special friends I am so blessed to have in my life. To my closest and dearest friends, I hope you know how much you mean to me and how you help guide my life every day. While I cannot name you all, I’d like to thank Kari Rosenfeld, Laura Behr and Hanna Wise Heiting for your constant ear and feedback.
And to Steve Postell: with deep respect for your support and detailed help at every stage of this book, most notably the final read, and in admiration of your brilliant mind, caring heart and great music.
To my father, Allen, my stepmother, Lynn, and all my siblings, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins, and all their significant others—thank you for always supporting me, no matter what I do or could have chosen to become. A special mention to my dad, whose compassion and wisdom guides me more and more each year.
Along with my father I’d like to specifically acknowledge my sisters, Michele and Romy, my brother, Gary, and my aunts Rhonda and Arlene. We came together for mom’s illness, each in our own way, and I cannot adequately express the depth of my gratitude to you. Mom deserved only the best.
And lastly, a special thanks to Romy. We grew up in the same family, danced in the same company, teach at the same ballet school, and live around the corner from each other now. Thank you for being by my side, truly, and always with love.
the SUGARLESS PLUM
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8446-7
Copyright © 2009 by Zippora Karz
All rights reserved. The reproduction, transmission or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher. For permission please contact Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada, M3B 3K9.
The names and identifying details of some characters in this book have been changed.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Karz, Zippora.
The sugarless plum: a ballerina’s triumph over diabetes / Zippora Karz.
p. cm.
1. Ballet dancers—United States—Biography. 2. Diabetics—United States—Biography. I. Title.
GV1785.K36A3 2009
792.802’8092—dc22
[B]
2009015679
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