Thank you to my agents Katherine Flynn and Ike Williams for their strong advocacy, and to my godsend editor, Helene Atwan, and all the fine people at Beacon Press for their keen insight and advice. For their thoughtful comments on various drafts, I am immensely indebted to Robert Atwan, Lundy Braun, Shaylin Hogan, Johnny Skoyles, and John Trimbur. My sons, Adrian and Dorian, deserve high praise for their smart feedback on the prologue and epilogue.
Completion of this book was aided by a special leave from Emerson College granted by President Lee Pelton, and with the encouragement of Maria Flook, Stephanie and Marc Rando, and Steve Yarbrough.
Finally, I am especially grateful to my wife and first reader, Brenda Molife, without whom this book specifically, and my happiness generally, would not exist.