ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I’D LIKE TO THANK HILARY LUCIER, DEVELOPMENT OFFICER AT Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center, for showing me around the island and sharing historical information with me. Though the Bulfinch building burned down in 1971, it helped me to stand on the site of the old foundation and imagine Charles Bradley looking down the hill at the wharf. Hilary wisely pointed out that the mission of the Outward Bound program on Thompson today is not so different from the mission of the Boston Farm School—they are still empowering young people through hands-on experiences.

Thanks also to alumnus Dave Haeger, class of 1942. In addition to giving me confidence about the worth of this story, he shared with me many interesting and useful details. For example, it was through Dave that I learned about the job of mail carrier, which inspired Webber, the only boy who gets to regularly go to the mainland. Dave also sent me the part of his brother Bruce’s autobiography that covers Bruce’s four years at the school, which was also a great asset to my effort.

All surviving documents from The Boston Farm School belong to the Joseph P. Healey Library Archives & Special Collections at University of Massachusetts Boston. And the man that was always happy to have me dig through those boxes was Dale Freeman, who at the time was the Digital Resources Archivist. Dale also hooked me up with The Beacon, the monthly newspaper written by Farm School students and printed in their print shop from 1897 to 1959. Someone patiently scanned all the newspapers and put them on the library’s Web site, and these were probably the single most important source of information for my book.

Thanks to Wally Wood for his advice on how to be an author out there making it happen for yourself. Even though I didn’t end up self-publishing, his help and kindness were a boost when I needed it.

Thanks to Grub Street, a wonderful and supportive writing community in Boston, and author Rosie Sultan, who gave me great feedback and encouragement.

Thanks to She Writes Press, for taking a chance on me.

Thanks to my beta readers Carolyn Blankenship, Pat Brinegar, and Karen Katz, and my proofreaders Linda Mayo and Carol Rothenstein.

And last but not least, thanks to my husband Dan for all his support and my children Sydney and Alex.