TURNING A manuscript into a beautiful book is not a lone endeavour. It takes the creative and talented work of a group with diverse skills. Once again I have had the benefit of the enthusiastic and professional team at Douglas & McIntyre. Thanks in particular to Scott McIntyre for his ongoing interest in my somewhat unusual ideas.
For the third time now, I have been fortunate to have the benefit of John Eerkes-Medrano’s tactful and perceptive editing. Peter Norman did a fine and thorough job on the copy-edit, enduring the interminable quest for consistency in centuries-old names translated from other languages. Naomi MacDougall created the intriguing cover art.
As much for my previous books as this one, I would like to acknowledge the marketing and publicity work of Emiko Morita and Corina Eberle. I also wish to acknowledge the Canada Council for the Arts and Alberta Foundation for the Arts for their support of this time-consuming project, as well as the staff at the Canmore Public Library for handling so many interlibrary loan requests.
Long before an author ever arrives at a manuscript, there is just an idea. My wife, Nicky Brink, always has much to contribute when it comes to turning an idea into a viable concept. She deserves particular thanks for enduring many “new idea” discussions, most of which end in the intellectual recycle bin. She also reads all my manuscripts before I send them off, offering many valuable suggestions for improvement. Who would have thought that over the years she would have become so involved in shaping books rooted in history, something in which she once admitted she had little interest?