ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The editors want to thank the writers whose work is contained in this book. Their generosity and encouraging words have inspired us throughout this project.

We are grateful to editor Nancy Grayson, who encouraged us to submit our initial proposal to University Press of Kentucky, and to editors Jennifer Peckinpaugh and Nichole Lainhart, whose persistence and cheerful good work have seen the book through to completion. We appreciate the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend that helped to launch this anthology.

Thanks also to the Carson-Newman College students who helped with the research, photocopying, and typing: Kara Roach Davis, Nicole Drewitz Crockett, Angela Ellis Roberts, Courtney Turnbow, Amy Hartman, Melanie Johnson Daugherty, and Joy Hayes. Special thanks to Nichole Stewart for typing much of the first draft. We thank the students at Appalachian State University who helped in the creation of the final manuscript of this book: Jenny Trest, Cassie Robinson, Ruthie Blakeney, Trish Kilby, Heather Robbins, Carl Larsen, Erin Casto, and Kathy Duffala. Your enthusiasm and energy for this project kept us going. Thanks as well to ASU colleagues Lynn Moss Sanders and Grace McEntee for being such a wonderful writing group.

We especially thank Toney Frazier, Sam Stapleton, and Elizabeth and Erin Stapleton for their loving support and patience.