Many thanks …
to Peter Osborne. You and “The Battle” are synonymous. You have been so very, very good to me.
to Mark Hendrickson, who leads a secret life that helped me write a book.
to Jon Inners, you rock (he is a geologist … just so we’re all in on the joke).
to Frank Salvati. There is no other person on earth who I would rather listen to for hours on the telephone.
to Kaweienón:ni Cook, for your beautiful choice in names.
to Nancy Conod and Susan Breyer … the hardboiled egg is missing from this book just for you two.
to Konwanonhsiyohstha Hill, for not only being the fastest reader I know, but the most enthusiastic and thoughtful.
to Leslie Caulfield, Shari Becker, Sarah Cassell, Christine Carron, Heather Demetrios, and David Fulk. I’d join a pirate crew for you guys! And you know how I feel about sharks, large bodies of water, and the sacking of ships.
to Kevin Mann, Maria Hykin, and Jennifer Salvato Doktorski—my grandmother used to say that if you want to know who you are, check out the people you hang with … I am obviously amazing.
to Lisa Rosinsky, whose thoughtful comment saved my story.
And to Carolyn Yoder, for there once was an editor (you) who saw more in me than I saw in myself … and then, like all great editors, she coaxed that story out.