Page 8 - Philly Girl

viii Janice Shapiro

Acknowledgements

Philly Girl began as a series of vignettes that Jan wrote over
the last several decades of her life. She had always intended to
turn the vignettes into a book for publication. As her health
gradually declined (in late 2017), Jan reached out to longtime
friend (and editor) Bonnie Gordon for help getting Philly
Girl into shape to submit to a publisher. Bonnie responded
with enthusiasm and encouragement, and collaborated with
Jan, both as editor and close personal friend sharing a final
project together. I am deeply grateful to Bonnie for helping
Jan realize her vision—to tell her life’s story as she saw it.
Janet Parker, whose sons grew up with ours, brought
another editor’s eye to proofreading the stories, and offered
both wise advice and encouragement.
I am grateful to our two sons, Sam Biroscak and Jesse
Biroscak, for their belief in their mom as a writer and their
encouragement and advice to me in the publication process.
When Jack Fritscher and Mark Hemry, partners in Palm
Drive Publishing, first read Philly Girl, Jack’s comment was,
“This should be published,” and they immediately agreed to
take on the project. Mark Hemry produced Philly Girl in its
present book form, advising and educating me on the details
that publishing a book requires beyond the actual writing.