DEDICATION

 

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For Nina

 

 

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NOTE: Williwaw is the Indian word for a big wind peculiar to the Aleutian islands and the Alaskan coast. It is a strong wind that sweeps suddenly down from the mountains toward the sea. The word williwaw, however, is now generally used to describe any big and sudden wind. It is in this last and more colloquial sense that I have used the term.

G. V.

 

 

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All of the characters, all of the events and most of the places in this book are fictitious.