ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In the course of writing this book, I spent nearly six months traveling in America and Canada. During that time I visited more than thirty states and provinces, and in almost every place I found old friends or new ones who extended hospitality, provided logistical and moral support, and shared insights with me. Thanks are due to:

Joe Colten, Gary Baumgarten, Steve and Carla Schwartz, Harvey Wasserman, Macy and Susan Hart, Carol and Ricka Hart, Tom Dine, Minette Wernick, Lori Posin, Christine Rimon, Dale Ackerman, Joe and Linda Chafets, Julie and Allan Grass, Stuart Shoffman, Roberta Fahn Shoffman, Harry Wall, Arthur Samuelson, Warren Feierstein, Abe Foxman, Rabbi Dan Syme, John and Diane Carbonara, Joseph and Betty Miller, Winston Pickett, Valerie Shalom, Yossil and Dora Friedman, Michael Stoff, Rabbi David Maharam, Rabbi Yoel Kahn, Isaac Lakritz, Scott Galen, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, Mike Hall, Roger Simon, Marilyn Miller, Gary Rosenblatt, Jerry Countess, Rafi Rothstein, and John Broder.

Thanks are also due to a number of people who read all or parts of this book in manuscript form and made valuable suggestions. They include Liora Nir, Barry Rubin, Michal Chafets, and again, Joseph Colten, Rabbi Dan Syme, and Harry Wall.

As usual, I am grateful to Esther Newberg of International Creative Management for her professional help and guidance.

Thanks are also due to Margot Levin of Bantam Books for her tireless and efficient efforts throughout the project.

Finally, I would like to thank my editor, Steve Rubin, who believed in this book from the start and played an invaluable role in its completion.