Words cannot begin to express my deepest and sincerest thanks to many people who made this work possible: Michael Murphy, whose handwritten notes became the catalyst for the story; Dolores Muldoon and Kathleen Caswell who spent many hours helping to type the original handwritten manuscript; my forever readers and friends for their encouragement and advice—Katherine Czesak, Anne Einhorn, John Hornung, Cynthia Josayma, Clifton Buck-Kauffman, Kelsey Magness, Leonard Post, Annie Reid, Patrice Robson, Tim Scully, Carol Whitnah, and all you others who have taken time to read parts of the story; Julia Cooper Smith for helping me to understand how to cut a story to make it more powerful; Donald Ellis for his friendship, eternal support, and amazing knowledge of the publishing industry; Greenleaf Book Group, especially Hobbs Allison, for the time, concern, and orchestration of the editorial comments that led to the trilogy, Nathan True for his remarkable copyediting, and Elizabeth Chenette for the hours of proofreading, both teaching me to see the world in new ways; to Neil Gonzalez, for his artistry and patience in working with me on the cover designs. My special thanks to Susan Hauptman for sharing both her time and extraordinary artistic eye in helping to choose the cover art. To Nancy Wiegman for her insights into India and meditation in the final proofreading. To the dozens of you kind enough to take the time to give interviews, again, my sincerest thanks. To Jim Ketchem, Jean Millay, Nicolas Schou, Tim Scully, and Joel Selvin—busy people all—for your generous endorsements. As always, thanks to my family, to Erin, Owen, and Adam, who grew up watching mom write whenever there was a spare minute; to the women who love them, that they may know the waters from which these men spring—Sophie, Danielle, and Clarice; to Nicolas, Liam, Emery, Cayden, Nora, and Dyllan, for inspiring the fortitude to leave you a greater awareness of the world.
And finally, to Erik—always my inspiration.