This book would not have been written but for Shelly Shapiro of Random House/Del Rey. It was at her suggestion that I started it at all.
I would like to thank Betty Ballantine, David Gerrold, and Virginia Kidd for consenting to be interviewed for this book. I would like to thank Carolyn A. Davis of the Reader Services Librarian in the Department of Special Collections of Syracuse University for providing me with a copy of Anne McCaffrey's original Dragonflight notes.
I would also like to thank my sister, Georgeanne Kennedy, and brother, Alec Johnson, for their recollections and encouragement. Thanks also to my very good friend Geoff Hilton for allowing me to tell a very good tale on him, and to Derval Diamond for the same reason. And I'd like to thank all our friends in Ireland for their kindness and support.
I could not have written this without the support of my wife, Jenna, and the love of my daughter, Ceara.
My debt to Anne McCaffrey, my mother, goes far beyond this book and no acknowledgement will ever be sufficient. In addition to all that has gone before, I would like to thank you, Mum, for putting up with my interviews and the countless e-mail exchanges for this book.
Needless to say, any mistakes, omissions, or downright lies are strictly my own.
Todd J. McCaffrey
March 17, 1999