When I mentioned to the Reverend Michael Garanzini, SJ, the president of Chicago’s Loyola University, that I was looking for a quiet place to work on a book, I was hoping maybe he’d find me a large broom closet somewhere in the Education Department. Instead, he suggested that I use his personal office overlooking Lake Michigan. His generosity was matched by the graciousness of the staff and administrators in Burrowes Hall who were my colleagues over the course of the summer of 2011, especially Dipti Shah, whose smiles greeted me every morning and whose frowns told me it was time to stop staring out across the lake and focus back on the computer. Thank you also to Tara and the crew at The Grind, who always give me coffee from the most freshly brewed pot, extra-toast my bagels just so, never roll their eyes at such requests, and therefore provide the perfect environment for a writer to work on his craft.
I am eternally grateful to the board of Interfaith Youth Core and, especially, its chair, Howard Morgan, for giving me the time and space away from managing the organization to gather my thoughts and write this book. They are a rare group of directors, individuals who care deeply about the mission and impact of this organization, and equally for the people who staff it. I am proud to work for them.
I am indebted to Barbara McGraw, coeditor of Taking Religious Pluralism Seriously: Spiritual Politics on America’s Sacred Ground, for our conversations connecting interfaith cooperation and sacred ground in America.
My editor, Amy Caldwell, did for this book what she does for all books: made it better. I am thankful for her sharp insights. Thank you to my agent, Don Fehr, for giving me the sage advice that the best publisher for this, my second book, was the publisher of my first: Beacon Press. Working with Don was great, and being a part of Beacon—the press that has published the works of personal heroes of mine from James Baldwin to Geoffrey Canada—is an honor.
Thank you to Rabbi Or Rose, Professor Charles Cohen, the Reverend Dr. Kenda Dean, Jenan Mohajir, Peter Gilmour, and Tom Levinson for your insightful comments on the manuscript. Special thanks to Claire Albert, who worked with me every step of the way on this manuscript, from the initial ideas to the final endnotes. Thank you to the terrific staff of IFYC and the network of young interfaith leaders we have the pleasure to work with. You will recognize much of this book. The best ideas were formed in discussions with you. The best stories are inspiring tales of the bridges you have built. Advancing this movement with you is nothing short of a thrill.
And to my family—my parents and brother, who have only been encouraging, my wife, who was blessed with immeasurable grace, and my children, who constantly amaze me by going at Mach 5 all the time—what can I say except that I wish I deserved how good you are to me.