Thank you to all my New Jersey friends, who supported me both during my illness and the writing process. A special thanks to Ken Silber for his writing support and Brooke Silber for her fabulous inspirational illustrations and first rendition of the North Brother Island map. Thank you to my Wisconsin swimmer friends, especially Jen May and Julie VanCleave for their roles in the draft review process.
Thank you to Jen Miller, Gina Miller, Matt Miller, and DiAnne Nolde, who whole-heartedly embraced their role as both early readers and listeners. I’m so grateful to the rest of my family as well for believing in me and my dream. I love you all.
A special thank you to my mother. All those English papers in high school that you helped me edit, sitting side by side at our desktop computer striving for perfection, long after I knew the paper was an A, gave me the foundation for writing this book. And thank you for reading several versions of this manuscript, with a keen eye to detail, and for lending your science expertise to help me get the medical details right.
And finally, thank you to my husband, Rob, and our two amazing daughters. Rob, ever since that elbow jab on the airplane after you spotted North Brother, you’ve been unwavering in your support. Not only have you always believed in the potential of this book, but I know that you also value the happiness that writing brings me. And so you’ve always helped me carve out time for it. That means the world to me. To our fiercely creative, brilliant, loving girls, thank you for believing in me. With passion and determination, you can and will achieve whatever you set your minds to. I love you.
