First and foremost, I’d like to express my gratitude to the scholars, historians, and archivists whose dedication in seeking out, preserving, studying, and organizing the life and work of Margaret Sanger provided me the means to write this book. A special thank-you to Peter Engelman of the Margaret Sanger Papers Project at New York University and Smith College for his precious time and boundless expertise. And to Ellen Chesler for inspiring me through her amazing work in Woman of Valor. You wrote, “Every woman in the world today who takes her sexual and reproductive autonomy for granted should venerate Margaret Sanger.” And because of you, I do.
I’d also like to thank the following local librarians and historians. Details matter. And these are the folks who diligently watch over them. Thank you to Nancy Magrath of the Rakow Research Library in Corning, New York, as well as to Tom Dimitroff and Peter Foley, local historians in Corning and Claverack, New York, respectively.
If teachers light your way, the following people are bright indeed. Mary Quattlebaum began this work with me as a picture book biography, never dousing the idea with the very real limitations this form would have entailed for my subject. And because of Mary, it grew into a middle grade—where Liz Garton Scanlon took it up with equal gusto, encouraging experimentation while also managing to be a frank editor. Carolyn Yoder stepped in to read it in all its forms, waving me on. And Reka Simonsen, with Julia McCarthy at her side, spent an entire year reshaping it into the book it is today. Dearest Reka, your energy, vision, and patience are astonishing.
Shouting from the sidelines were a host of the most spectacular writing friends. If you think having people along the path rooting for you is no large matter, you’ve never run a marathon, and surely writing a novel is a marathon. I adore you . . . Cate Berry, Sarah Cassell, Leslie Caulfield, Jennifer Salvato Doktorski, Robin Galbraith, Adrienne Kisner, Carol McAfee, and of course, the Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children and Young Adults’s one and only Dead Post-Its Society.
Thanks always to my agent, Kerry Sparks. You are a true partner.
And love to my husband, Kevin Mann, who endured something akin to the torments of hell having to listen to me go on about Margaret Higgins Sanger for years.
A final acknowledgment to Margaret Higgins Sanger. So much in my life has been made possible due to your work and dedication. Thank you.