Soon after this book came together, I met Jim Wedick (who no longer goes by the nickname J.J.), Jack Brennan, and Myron Fuller in Park City, Utah, for three days of storytelling, laughter, and show-and-tell sessions that featured yellowing newspaper clippings and copies of old court decisions. It was enormously galvanizing, and in the two and a half years that followed, they each collectively gave up many hours of their time answering endless questions, hunting through their basements for photos and other artifacts, piecing together timelines, and generally bending over backward and sideways to help me reach across almost four decades to construct this story. I’m endlessly grateful for their efforts. Much obliged, also, to Jack’s wife, Becky, for trusting me with her story. Also thanks to her and Nancy Wedick for their forbearance, excellent meals, and the use of their spare bedrooms.
Many thanks to my agents Larry Weissman and Sascha Alper, a phenomenal duo for an author to have in his corner. They believed in this book from the first mention and provided invaluable help in lifting it off the ground.
Authors are lucky to have one talented editor; I was wildly fortunate to have two. Domenica Alioto and Claire Potter at Crown fueled my efforts with wisdom, enthusiasm, and good humor. They made the book vastly better, and made the effort fun throughout. Much gratitude.
Also at Crown, Phil Leung, the production manager, and Craig Adams, the production editor, kept the wheels moving in the right direction on every aspect of this book from beginning to end. Copyeditor Bonnie Thompson’s hawk eyes and language skills made me look better on these pages than I ever could manage on my own. A deep bow to Chris Brand for creating the book’s ingenious and striking now-you-see-him-now-you-don’t cover, and to interior designer Songhee Kim, who’s responsible for the elegant yet appropriately jaunty layout. Sarah Grimm and Roxanne Hiatt, the book’s publicist and marketer, respectively, knew exactly the right soapboxes to stand on, and did it with great humor and panache. And, of course, Chasing Phil might still be a waking daydream for me without the steadfast support from the start of publisher Molly Stern and deputy publisher Annsley Rosner. I’m indebted to this team and humbled by their efforts.
Thank you to National Archives facilities in Atlanta, Kansas City, Chicago, and San Francisco for being there. The court records stored in these places were vital to my ability to tell this story. Much appreciation to Charles Miller, Jerry Phares, Arlene Royer, Jeff Sample, John Sparling, and everyone else in the archives and federal court system who helped me track down files from old OpFoPen cases. Thanks to Jim Rice in the Orange County, California, superior court clerk’s office for digging up files from a trial from more than thirty-five years ago.
Kim Horgan, Cathy Miller, and Elizabeth Hansen all provided extra sets of hands and eyes with trial documents and transcripts in the National Archives files when I was stretched too thin.
A big thank-you to John Wareham of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune for tracking down files of newspaper clippings on the Kitzers from the 1960s that had been shipped off-site. That was a huge find for me. Thanks to Vicky Weiss at the Bismarck Tribune for digging through the newspaper’s story and photo archives for material from the American Allied trial in the 1960s. Thanks to Joe Slobodzian of the Philadelphia Inquirer for helping track down some key information from federal court.
A number of people helped me at various points, in New York and Pennsylvania, with research and/or transcribing work: Julia Calderone, Lauren Ladoceour, Zoe Schaeffer, Maura Smith, Lara Sorokanich, Becky Straus, and Britt Tagg. All of it was critical in moving me closer to the finish line on a high-wire schedule. Thanks to Carla Lindenmuth and Terah Shelton for their library sleuthing skills, and to Sabine Niemeier for running down details about the Intercontinental Frankfurt from the 1970s.
I’m grateful to Helen Racan, Phil Kitzer’s ex-wife, and their son Richard, for sharing their stories on what was a difficult chapter in their lives.
I benefited immensely from the sage feedback and buoying support of my readers: Lou Cinquino, Claire Dederer, Peter Flax, Jeremy Katz, and Sam Kennedy. Thank you all. And to my longtime friend and co-conspirator, John Murray: Thanks for your ideas and input and comic relief, and for the quiet space.
My wife, Ann, also read the book and provided hugely helpful commentary and suggestions, all while enduring (with our son, Vaughn) my obsessiveness and absences over nearly three years. You both have my gratitude and love.