Acknowledgments

It has sometimes been said that a memoir is a singular effort by the person who writes of his or her experiences. Clearly, as illustrated above, that has not been my experience. I was graced by incredible help from many people.

It’s been a delightful experience to revisit the experiences that helped shaped my life. The most important thanks go to those who worked so hard and did so much to help get the project done.

Among them are Jeff Splitgerber who suggested I write the memoir and pushed even more when I expressed reservations. He is the person who nudged me to talk with Karen Mireau Rimmer who was critical in shaping, reviewing, and editing the text, selecting images including the cover, suggesting improvements to the sequence of some chapters and drew on her wisdom, experience, and drive to complete the project including the marketing. As I have said many times, she is a gem!

Janet Volkman did a great job on the copy editing for both the memoir and for The Golden Age of Jewish Achievement. Ilja Sarro did a marvelous job in filming and editing the video and suggesting many ideas about how to make those video(s) interesting. My grandson, Minh Tham, was also of immense help in designing, building, and debugging the blog. He is a wonder!

Andy Weinberger, owner of Readers’ Books in Sonoma, California, was a great sponsor for my presentation in his bookstore, as featured in this blog. As noted in my presentation, he is an institution in Sonoma. In addition, Katie De Jongh hosted us for a presentation at Sonoma’s wonderful Vintage House.

The people who provided their blurbs and reviews were invaluable. They include: Karen Collins, Marilyn Hewitt, Harold (Hal) Phillips, David Hirsch, Lucy Merello, Dr. John Stace, Kevin Calhoun, and Julien Segre. James Collins taught me much about Russia and counseled on the structure of some of the text about Russia and Russian history. He truly is an “Old Russia Hand.” 

Judges Mike Mihm and Paul Magnuson taught all of us about the Rule of Law in Russia. Karen Horn has always been steadfast and wise in her advice. Katy Hungerford and Charles Kremer helped vet the PLM chapter, and Jonathan Ortmans provided his counsel on chapters focused on Russian and international entrepreneurship. And thanks to my wife Joyce for her help and patience as I stayed up late typing the draft on my computer.

Finally, a tip of the hat to the folks at Kirkus for their great review of the book, and later for their recognition of Nothing Ventured: An American Life as one of 36 new books to be honored in 2023 as “Great Indie Books Worth Discovering.”