What a unique contribution Dr. Spencer Johnson made to the world! One of the most beloved and influential authors of our time, Spencer shunned the spotlight, preferring to let the words of his eloquently simple fables speak for themselves. It is an honor to be able to offer Out of the Maze as his parting gift to the world, and we want to thank all those who made this publication possible. Our gratitude especially goes out:
To Spencer’s sons, Emerson, Austin, and Christian, for their special roles in Spencer’s life and for helping make this new book a part of his enduring legacy. We and Spencer’s millions of readers share their loss, and are grateful for the many gifts their father left us.
To Ken Blanchard, Spencer’s good friend and One Minute Manager coauthor; it was Ken who first encouraged Spencer to put his story down on paper so others could benefit from its simple wisdom, and who, once the book was published, became its most enthusiastic advocate.
To Hyrum W. Smith, whose long-time collaboration and invaluable contributions helped make this book possible.
To our early readers for helping this book become its best self.
To Robert Barnett, of Williams & Connolly LLP; Kathryn Newnham, of the Spencer Johnson Trust; Angela Rinaldi, of the Angela Rinaldi Literary Agency; and Nancy Casey, Spencer’s executive assistant, for their invaluable support and assistance.
To Tom Dussel, Tara Gilbride, Ashley McClay, Madeline Montgomery, Chris Sergio, Merry Sun, Will Weisser, and the rest of the team at Putnam and Portfolio for their devoted dedication to the project.
To John David Mann, for his thoughtful and respectful touch in helping prepare this manuscript for publication; and to Margret McBride, of the Margret McBride Literary Agency, for her support.
To you, the reader, and to the millions of readers and fans, advocates and ambassadors of the original Who Moved My Cheese? story.
And finally, to Spencer himself. To call him “a master of deep truths in simple packages” would be true, yet only part of the truth. It is no accident that the future creator of best-selling fables served as both a medical doctor and a children’s book author. His fondest hope was not simply to put wisdom on the page, but to give people practical tools to improve their lives, and in so doing, to help make the world a healthier, happier, and more richly fulfilling place.
Ivan Held, G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Adrian Zackheim, Portfolio