Words of thanks

We express our warm thanks to the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture for their generous support of the exhibition and book; Toronto Jewish Arts Council of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, who were the first to support this project; Humanities Council, New York University, for funds to photograph the paintings and create a digital database of the works.

For organizing the traveling exhibition that accompanies this book, we express our gratitude to Alla Efimova, Chief Curator at the Judah L. Magnes Museum (Berkeley) and her colleagues Faith Powell, Julie Franklin, Carin Jacobs, and James G. Leventhal.

To our able proofreaders, Elaine, Lisa, and Shawna Silver, we are grateful. Warm appreciation to Stanley Holwitz, our editor at University of California Press, for his faith in this book, and his team: Rose Vekony, Dore Brown, and Julia Zafferano for their care in preparing the manuscript; Nola Burger for her inspired design; John Cronin and Janet Villanueva for their production expertise; and Amy-Lynn Fischer, Julie Christianson, and Alex Dahne for bringing the book to its readers.

Kyle, Mayer's first greatgrandson, born April 30, 2006

Above all, it is to our families that we owe the deepest debt of gratitude: Doris, Mayer's wife of 67 years, for her unwavering commitment to Mayer’s mission; Max Gimblett, Barbara's husband, who has always encouraged Mayer to blossom as an artist; Mayer's daughter Elaine and her husband Marvin Silver for their devotion and tireless efforts day to day; Mayer's grandchildren--Shawna Silver and Lisa Silver, and Lisa's husband Corey Brozovsky, and Noam and Doron Berlin--for the love they shower on their grandparents; Daniel Berlin, for his ongoing support; and Annie, Mayer's youngest daughter, who would have been overjoyed to see this project come to fruition.