I want to thank Sue Sgroi, Norah Sargent, John Meikeljohn, Sara Meikeljohn, Tim Cunard, Mary Hurtig, and Susan Sandler; also, Mary Ryan, Donna Johnson, Maria Alexander, Rich Romboletti, JoAnn Murphy, Margaret Wolf, and Nick Wolf, who read or listened to parts of the book and whose help was invaluable. I especially want to thank Joanne Cunard and Liz Klock, who read the whole manuscript and gave wonderful encouragement and advice. Another special thanks to Hugh Conlon and my beloved wife, Mary Alice, who were unbelievably available as listeners throughout the writing of this book.
I also want to thank Joe Spieler, whose vision launched my career as a writer. Thanks to Lisa Thong for her help through the process of the publication of this book. To Susan Rogers for her wise editing of the first draft of the manuscript. To Elisabeth Kallick-Dyssegaard who was responsible for the creation of this book. And last to Hope Innelli, my editor at HarperCollins, who was an extraordinary pleasure to work with and whose constant encouragement and great skill inestimably contributed to the final product of this book.