The Christmas Tree (9 page)

Authors: Jill; Julie; Weber Salamon

BOOK: The Christmas Tree

6.77Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Bill Clegg, who lit the spark and tended it with great care, to Elsa Burt for her enthusiasm and help, and to Ann Godoff, Kathy Robbins, Janis Donnaud, and Stacy Rockwood. This has been an affectionate collaboration, and our husbands, Bill Abrams and Frank Weber, have been a loving part of it, as have Barbara and Lew Schwartz, Arthur and Lilly Salcman, and Mud and Marge Abrams. We'd also like to thank Sister Stephen and the others at the Carmel Richmond Nursing Home in Staten Island for helping a dear friend, Bruna Alpini; Sister Sarah of the Corpus Christi Monastery in the Bronx; and David Murbach, manager of the gardens division at Rockefeller Center, who thoughtfully explained the ins-and-outs of finding the perfect Christmas tree. We love Christmas at Rockefeller Center so, though we've never met the Sisters of Christian Charity in Mendham, New Jersey, we appreciated their gift of a tree in 1995, which touched our hearts and imagination and led us to create our story and pictures.

About the Author

Julie Salamon is an award-winning author and journalist. She has been a reporter and film critic for the
Wall Street Journal
and the
New York Times
, and her work has appeared in the
New Yorker
,
Vanity Fair
,
Vogue
,
and
Harper's Bazaar
, among other publications. Her books include
Wendy and the Lost Boys
, a biography of playwright Wendy Wasserstein;
The Devil's Candy
, a behind-the-scenes account of the 1980s box-office flop
Bonfire of the Vanities
; and, with illustrator Jill Weber, the
New York Times
bestseller
The Christmas Tree
, as well as two middle-grade novels,
Mutt's Promise
an
d
Cat in the City.
Salamon is also chair of the Bowery Residents' Committee, a community organization that provides support for individuals who are homeless and struggling with addiction or mental illness in New York City.

About the Illustrator

Jill Weber is an artist, illustrator, and freelance designer. She has collaborated with author Julie Salamon on the
New York Times
bestseller
The Christmas Tree
and the middle-grade novels
Cat in the City
and
Mutt's Promise
. Her other illustrated books include
Christmas Tree Farm
by Ann Purmell, a Junior Library Guild Selection and
New York Times
Christmas pick;
Higher: A Rosh Hashanah Story
by Eric A. Kimmel, winner of an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award; and
The Story of Hanukkah
by David A. Adler, a
New York Times
holiday pick.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Mauricio DÃaz

978-1-5040-3657-3

This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

180 Maiden Lane

New York, NY 10038

www.openroadmedia.com