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Emotional sustenance became very important to me as I undertook and progressed with my editorial tasks on the second edition of Dermatology for Skin of Color while my body was being progressively ravaged by Parkinson disease. My wife of 48 years, Beverly Baker-Kelly, was my indispensible partner throughout each phase of the production of this second edition. She did double duty as a Scholar-in-Residence in business law at the Modern College of Business and Science in Muscat, Oman, all the while acting as my sous chef in editing this book.
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Our daughters, Traci and Kara Kelly; their spouses, Brian Crump and Rahsaan Thompson; our granddaughters, Keiley and Hayden Kelly-Thompson, ages 10 and 13, respectively; and my 95-year-old mother-in-law, Connie Baker, all of California, endured our absences from family holidays and special occasions. They understood that my dual missions were to finish this textbook and to make significant headway on my keloid research project while I was residing in Muscat. Keiley, my oldest granddaughter, took the first edition of the textbook to her school to show it around. I was glad to hear from her teachers how proud my granddaughter was about the book and the adventurous lives of her grandparents in the Arabian Gulf.
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Collaboration has always been invigorating and intellectually stimulating for me. I count myself lucky to have assembled an expert, supportive, and energetic editorial staff in Muscat and in the United States. I owe a debt of gratitude to my editorial assistants, Natasha Savoy Smith, Rachel Schiera, Charlotte Woon, Ayshe Ismail, and Louise Morgan in Muscat, and to Patricia Elmore, their counterpart in California. Each editorial assistant delivered expertly finished products.
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The skills displayed by Nassir Masoud and Nivu Hussain of Muscat and Gabriel Silva and Tijani Mohammed of Oakland, California, to research, format, organize, and creatively position figures in each of our assigned chapters helped to develop the uniqueness of our book.
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Words cannot express the depth of my gratitude to Dr. Muneer Al Maskery, Dean Ahmed Al Naamany, and Mr. Saleh Al Kindi of the Modern College of Business and Science in Muscat for providing spacious office accommodations where our editorial team could meet 24/7, if necessary, to swim through the "molasses" of editorial tasks.
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Dr. Art Papier, CEO, and Heidi Halton, Image Collection Manager, at Logical Images supplied wonderfully illustrative images to augment my comprehensive collection of slides featuring skin of color disorders.
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A big round of applause goes to Sarah M. Granlund, our developmental editor with McGraw-Hill Medical Publishing, who paid expert attention to the gestalt and minutiae of each chapter in order to produce a textbook of the finest quality. Karen Edmonson and Regina Brown are also to be praised for their commitment to having this book published after taking up the cudgels from Anne M. Sydor.
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Thanks are in order to many of my dermatology colleagues, particularly Drs. Pearl Grimes, Fred Quarles, and Howard Maibach, for their input. Many members of the Section on Dermatology of the National Medical Association donated photos for both versions of the textbook and shared their therapeutic pearls of wisdom.
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My appreciation also goes to my co-editors, Drs. Susan C. Taylor, Henry Lim, and Ana Maria Anido Serrano. I can remember when Anne Sydor, our magnificently supportive McGraw-Hill publisher, floated the idea to us of the possibility of publishing a second edition of this book. Susan, Henry, and Ana all stepped up to the plate and said, "Count me in," notwithstanding their fixed commitments and academic responsibilities. It is my deepest hope that generations of dermatologists, medical practitioners, and the general public will benefit from our joint efforts and commitment to excellence.
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It is with great pride and joy that we present the second edition of Dermatology for Skin of Color, which is more comprehensive and expansive than the first edition. This occurred through the dedication of two new editors, whom I thank, Drs. Henry Lim and Ana Maria Anido Serrano, who took up the gauntlet and helped produce a text with global reach. I marvel at the singular determination and dedication of my co-editor, Prof. A. Paul Kelly, who completed this edition despite so many challenges. I thank you, Paul, for being an exemplary friend and colleague. This project would not have come to fruition without the vision and support of Anne M. Sydor, our extraordinary McGraw-Hill Editor, as well as our developmental editor, Sarah M. Granlund. Finally, I acknowledge the love and support of my wonderful family: my husband, Kemel Dawkins, and my daughters, Morgan Elizabeth and Madison Lauren, with whom all things are possible.
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It has been a privilege and pleasure for me to join A. Paul Kelly and Susan Taylor—both longstanding colleagues and friends, and Ana Anido Serrano as co-editor of Dermatology for Skin of Color. The first edition, with Paul and Susan as co-editor, has become a standard textbook on this subject. This expanded second edition is the result of the excellent contribution of the authors, all recognized experts on the topics. My special recognition goes to Paul who motivated all of us to move forward with the project, and to Beverly Baker-Kelly, who assisted us in completing it. The team from McGraw-Hill, Anne M. Sydor, Sarah M. Granlund, and Kritika Kaushik, has been superb in bringing this book to fruition.
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My deep gratitude goes to my wife of 39 years, Mamie Wong Lim, MD, who is a loving wife, mother to our children Christopher and Kevin, and grandmother to Julian, Madelaine, and Dylan. Her patience and support have made this and many other projects possible.
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In both the Sultanate of Oman, where I have lived and practiced dermatology for the past 21 years, and Cuba, where I was born and studied medicine, the people are known to cultivate and exhibit intense feelings of loyalty and deference toward those they respect and cherish. In this instance, I am proud to fit this mold. Loyalty and deference perfectly describe my feelings regarding Prof. Kelly, as we called him from the first day he came to our dermatology department in 2009 at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital in Muscat, Oman, with his epidemiology and genetics keloid research project.
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Our professional relationship soon morphed into a fruitful and productive partnership, culminating in my being invited to become a co-editor for this textbook along with my highly esteemed colleagues, Drs. Susan C. Taylor and Henry W. Lim, both internationally recognized giants in the field of dermatology.
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Prof. Kelly, our co-editors, and I worked tirelessly to identify eminent dermatologists from all over the world, including the Arabian Peninsula, India, Malaysia, China, Japan, Europe, Canada, Africa, Latin America, Mexico, and the United States, who could be invited to contribute their expertise to this second edition of our textbook. To these distinguished contributors, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude. Your expertise, commitment, and diligence will have a huge impact on patient care for countless dermatologists and medical practitioners the world over for many years to come.
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But I would be remiss if I did not give equal praise to our team here in Muscat, Oman, who joined hands with us and made this book their own. Our expert editorial staff was headed by Natasha Savoy Smith, an extremely skilled editor—secretly called "barracuda" by the rest of us—who was able to make corrections and discern errors that escaped our trained eyes. Likewise, our other equally dedicated and expert editors, Rachel Schiera, Charlotte Woon, Aisha Ismail, and Louise Morgan, are to be commended.
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My thanks to our digitally minded computer experts, Nassir Masoud and Nivu Hussain, who literally worked with us night and day, consistently going the extra mile to help consolidate, arrange, match up and ultimately transform our images and texts into the beautifully expressive finished product you hold in your hands today.
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Also, my highly detail-oriented friend and colleague, Dr. Beverly Baker-Kelly, cannot be thanked enough for her unfailing dedication to the organization and execution of this incredible project. She was our 'go-to person' on every aspect of the textbook as she diligently planned and ensured that every task was executed to make our book a magnum opus.
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Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude from the depth of my heart to my beloved parents, Aramis and Xiomara, to my sister, Laura, to Salim, and to Loay, our son, for their love and continuously unwavering spiritual support.
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