My two minute author presentation to the Jewish Book Council in NYC on June 4th before community decision makers who pick speakers for their book events.

How do you define a miracle? Is it really in the eyes of the beholder?
If so, today feels like a miracle to me.

I stand before you as my father's daughter. It was his book, The Golden Medina. I was just his 13 year old editor.

His book is about a pious Russian Jewish family leaving the shtetl for a better life in 1914 America. His book is about power and the action-packed early days of the Italian American mafia.

I was 27 when dad got sick but I promised him before he died that I would finish the book and get it published.

Now trust me - I am 52 now and that was no straight line. I knew I had to make major changes if it was going to be a real novel. That alone took decades.

And life continued. My husband and I were blessed with two wonderful children but we also had some tragedies. It all took its toll.

One night I turned to the Torah for comfort and it soothed me and later inspired me to use my talents to adapt the Torah for different audiences. You may have read my weekly summaries on MyJewishLearning.com.

During these years I also got breast cancer--- twice. After my second breast cancer I knew it was time to fulfill my promise to my father.

My dad's book, The Golden Medina has always been fast-paced with many layers. Women love the warm Jewish family saga. Men love the intense Italian gangster action and they both love how it turns into an unlikely coming of age story.

This book has changed these past 40 years and it has remained the same. Here (raise fake glass) is to you dad, to The Golden Medina, the JBC. To God, To life. L'çhayim.Nancy Reuben Greenfield