THE English writer Richard Holmes described the crafting of biography as “a haunting, an act of deliberate psychological trespass, a continuous living dialogue between subject and author as they move over the same historical ground.”
That analogy seemed apt as I readied this manuscript, since I haunted the streets of Tom Parker’s past, and he haunted my daylight and my dreams. Many times, we seemed to do battle as I struggled to decode the cryptic actions of his life. For a man who lived eighty-seven years, he left remarkably few words on the major events of his nine decades, neither writing a tome of his own, nor cooperating with journalists, as if daring a biographer to create an accurate account from stony silence.
Judith Thurman, reflecting on the French writer Colette, the subject of her own biographical work, has said that during this mysterious process of committing a life to the page she felt at some level Colette “was waiting for the recognizer—someone who would see through her poses and her masks and her reticence and describe her to herself.” But Colette would not collaborate with her: “She wanted to control the narrative.”
At the most difficult juncture of researching this biography, Parker seemed to do the same—to taunt me, to invite me to explain him, if not to himself, to others. But then just as quickly, he, like Colette, attempted to exercise control, erecting one hurdle after another.
If I succeeded in capturing him, in pinning him to the ground like Lemuel Gulliver in the land of Lilliputians, it was only with a great deal of help, beginning with Michael Korda and Chuck Adams at Simon & Schuster, who understood the project in a way that almost no one else did.
Beyond those who helped with the mechanics of turning a manuscript into a book are the people who offered the information that made the story live and breathe, all of whom knew a different Tom Parker. Without them, he would never have arrived between these covers with his complexity intact. I owe tremendous gratitude to the following:
In Holland, many people worked diligently to help me shed some light in dark corners, beginning with Parker’s family—his sister, Marie Gort–van Kuijk; his niece, Maria (Mieke) Dons-Maas; and her husband, Ted Dons. They opened their homes and their hearts to me. I will always cherish them for that singular experience, and for their friendship. Parker’s refusal to acknowledge these very loving people in his latter years was to deny himself an extraordinary gift.
I am also exceedingly grateful to Angelo Somers and Hanneke Neutkens, who champion Parker’s legacy in his native country, and to - Parker’s nephew Ad van Kuijk Jr., for sharing precious family documents.
A number of Dutch lawyers provided essential information, including Erik M. J. Thomas of Schoenmakers & Thomas, Breda, Holland, and Pauline Reitsma, who midwifed the legal process of examining old police reports. Additionally, several archivists worked cheerfully to marshal dates of births, deaths, and marriages, including Mevr. M.-L. van den Wijngaard, City Archives Section Head, and C. J. J. Biemans-Voesenek, City Archives, Breda, Holland. A profound thanks goes to Amnon and Lynn Shiboleth and Lilyan Wilder for serving as vital contacts to key figures of this group.
Although he left his native Holland long ago, Lee Wulffraat set me straight on so many aspects of Dutch life, educated me about the kinds of boats that likely transported the future Colonel Parker to America, and offered countless translations of important articles, documents, and letters. He was a constant friend, always willing to try to do the impossible. His brother, Tony Wulffraat, still residing in the Netherlands, was as giving and helpful, spending his Christmas holidays taking photographs that helped me understand one part of the story so well. Lee’s daughter, Karen, proved the important link in our fortuitous meeting, and in fact, the book seemed to become a Wulffraat family project, as Elsa and Wim van Pelt, Lee’s sister and brother-in-law, and Ine Wulffraat, Tony’s wife, also helped decipher antiquated texts and speed the translations.
No amount of thanks can convey my deep appreciation to the Dutch journalist Constant Meijers, who shared both his keen insights into - Parker’s personality and his transcripts of interviews from his documentary film Looking for Colonel Parker. In the darkest days of this project, his shared belief kept me going.
I’m grateful also to the Holland Society of New York; Professor David van Kuijk; Tanja Eikenboom Warren, for translations of crucial Dutch periodicals; Adriaan Sturm and Willem Kaauw, for magazine articles and photographs concerning Parker’s origins in the Netherlands; and to E. A. van den Enden–v. Meer, Harry van den Enden, and Ad van den Enden, for clues into the fundamental mystery at the heart of this saga. Additionally, Frans de Leeuw at Breda’s St. Joseph School cleared up some confusion about Parker’s early education.
There are others without whom this book would not have moved beyond the routine assimilation of dates and facts. Dirk Vellenga and Mick Farren, whose seminal Elvis and the Colonel laid the foundation for this work, spoke with candor about the still-elusive nature of the subject. In pointing me in some new directions, they provided a blueprint for my research. This book would clearly not exist without theirs.
Peter Whitmer, Ph.D., and the author of The Inner Elvis, supplied a plethora of original source material, invaluable psychological profiling of the Colonel, and a much appreciated analysis of Parker’s letter to his Dutch nephew. He also propped me up when the going got rough.
Dick Bielen of the U.S. Locator Service worked tirelessly to find - Parker’s long-lost army records, which add immeasurably to the understanding of the Colonel’s early years in America. Unquestionably, these records stand as the most exciting and illuminating evidence of Parker’s psychological make-up.
Finally, Bolling Smith, the editor of The Coast Defense Journal, read the military chapter and straightened out some crooked facts, and Michael Streissguth, Eddy Arnold’s biographer, helped me corral the facts of the Arnold years. He also shared his interview transcripts, made introductions, and offered support for an often sagging morale.
While everyone interviewed for the book contributed in ways he or she can’t imagine, several sources were indispensable and gave generously of their time and treasures, from photographs to historical records. I will never be able to express my gratitude to Byron Raphael, Gabe Tucker, Sandra Polk Ross, Bob McCluskey, and Larry Geller. All were of such glorious help that I don’t know if I could have done the book without them. Chick Crumpacker also deserves extra mention, not only for his written responses to questions and his phone interview, but for his dogged research on my behalf in the RCA archives.
The following are some of the many people who helped in significant ways: Cindy Adams; Gaylen Adams; Steve Allen; Kathy Allmand; Chet Atkins; Marjorie (Mrs. Ollie) Atkins; Kevin Atkinson; M. R. Avery, D.V.M.; Duke Bardwell; Georganne La Piere Bartylak; Armand and Marde Baum; Linda Bayens; John Berry; Frances Bevis; Sharon Bevis; Freddy Bienstock; Steve Binder; Barbara Boger; Frank Bogert; Jenny Bohler; Charlie and Mary Lou Boyd; Don Bradley; Harold Bradley; Terry Bream; David Briggs; J. W. Brown; James L. Brown; Tony Brown; Don Burch; Bob Burris; Sam Bushman; Albert Buys; Noble Case; June Carter Cash; Harriet Chalfant; Dick Clark; President William Jefferson Clinton and Daniel W. Burkhardt, Special Assistant to the President; Barry Coburn; Steven Cohen; Dick Contino; Al Cooley; Janet Costner; Dr. Susan Cottler; Lance Cowan; John Craig; Mike Crowley; Marc Cummings; Susan Darnell; Larry Davis; Oscar Davis Jr.; Cartha “Deke” De-Loach; Bill Denny; Alice Virginia Dodd; Ann Dodelin; John Dotson; Jackie Dowlen; Louise Draper; Tommy Durden; Al Dvorin; John Eastman; Alan Eichler; Allison Elbl; Joycelyn Engle; William Ervin; Sam Esgro; Donna Fargo; Art Fein; Lamar Fike; Bob Finkel; Larry Fitzgerald; Tom Flagg, University of Nevada at Las Vegas; Ed Fleck; Kira Florita, Sandy Neese and Kevin Lane, Mercury Nashville; D. J. Fontana; Trude Forsher; Richard H. Frank Sr.; Tillman Franks; Anne Fulchino; Joe Galante; Jan Gay and Judy Burkley; Robert Gregory Gibson; Holly Gleason; Paul Golden; Charlie Gouvenia; Scott Gray; Charles Grean; Tony Greaves; Tom T. Hall; Maxine Hansen, Executive Assistant to Gene Autry; Buddy Harman; Summer Harman; Andrew Hearn; William Helfand; Sharon Henry; Leonard Hirshan; Randy Holmes; Sue Horn; Terry Houck; Richard Hull; Nick Hunter; Janis Ian and Patricia Snyder; Tormod Lunde Idsø; Mel Ilberman; Clancy Imislund, Director of the Midnight Mission, Los Angeles, California; Joyce Jackson; Ron Jacobs; Jackie Jett; Van Joyce; Norman Kaye; Frances Keanan; Lydia (Mrs. Pee Wee) King; Buddy Killen; Bill Kimbro; Otto Kitsinger; Dorothy Koenig; Bob Kotlowitz; Betsy Kronish; Marty Lacker; Charlie Lamb; Dick Lane; Jane Lane; Bob Leoni of the Songwriters Hall of Fame; Pam Lewis; Horace Logan; Charlie Louvin; Sandy Lovejoy; A. C. Lyles; Peter Maas; William C. MacGregor; Diana Magrann; Benny Martin; Kathy Mattea; Mary Matthews; Helen McCloud; Brad McCuen; Joyce McMakin; Hal and Vi Moldenhaur; Chips Moman; Bob Moody; Bob and Kittra Moore; Scotty Moore; Erin Morris; Joe Moscheo; Bitsy Mott.
Also Nick Naff; Tracey Nathan; Ken Nelson; Tracy Nelson; George M. Newill; Hugh O’Brian; Brent Olson; Frank Page; Patti Page; Richard Palmer; Ben Payne; Federico Pollicina, M.D.; C. J. Pressma; Mark Pucci; Norman Racusin; Bill Rains; Michael Ravnitzky; Jere Real; Raymond Richardson; Don Rickles; Libby Riggins; Steve Rinaldi Sr.; Jordan Ritchie; Dennis Roberts; Dale Robertson; Cathy Hetzer Rogers; Dusty Rogers; Monsignor George W. Rohling; Robert Kenneth Ross; David Rothel; Ronna Rubin; Leon Russell; Tommy Sands; Karen Schoemer; Walter Seltzer; Joe Shane; Andrew Shankman, M.D., Marva (Mrs. Lloyd) Shearer; Jim Sherraden of Hatch Show Print; Joan Shoofey; Evelyn Shriver; Clare Simpson; David Skepner; Todd Slaughter; Steve Small; Mary Smiley, the pride of Toledo, Ohio; David C. Smith of the Southern California Miniature Horse Club; Jon Guyot Smith; Rosalie F. Sochinski, Executive Director, Variety Clubs International; Stan Soocher; Kathie Spehar; Gordon Stoker; Lisa Stout of the Nashville Metro Medical Examiner’s Office; Tony Stuchbury; Joe Sullivan; John Szabanowicz; Preston Temple; E. Parry Thomas; Dr. and Mrs. John B. Thompson; Mel Tillis; Pam Tillis; Anna Trainor; Justin Tubb; Tanya Tucker; Dana Tumpowsky; Jenifer van Deinse; Wes Vause; Ken Vrana; James Wade Jr.; Peter Wallace; Michael Wallis; Diane Warren; Dr. David Weide, University of Nevada at Las Vegas; Cheryl Weinstein; Allan Weiss; Kay West; Christie Mullins Westmoreland; Kathy Westmoreland; Kay Wheeler; Roy Wiggins; Paul Wilborn; Dorothy Wilder; David Wilds; Don Wilson; Amy Wimberly; Elaine Tubb Wingerter; Charles Winn of Spring Hill Cemetery and Mausoleum; Mac Wiseman; Irv Woolsey; Marvin Worth; Jules Wortman; Don Wrege; Mark Wright; Mary Yandell; James Harvey Young.
Thanks also to John Agan, LouCeil Austin, Debbie Germany, Jackie Lawton, Tommy Overstreet, and Angela Snyder for help with the Gene Austin period.
The following also provided essential information:
For help with the presidential connections, Lynda Johnson Robb; George Reedy; Bill Moyers; Mike Parrish and Claudia Anderson, Archivists, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Austin, Texas; Lisa Vitt, Archivist, Ronald Reagan Library, Simi Valley, California; Mary Finch, Warren Finch, and Sam McClure at the George Bush Library, College Station, Texas; Kathleen A. Struss and Bonnie Mulanax at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas; Raymond Teichman, Supervisory Archivist, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York; Dennis E. Bilger, Archivist, Harry S Truman Library, Independence, Missouri; Albert Nason, Archivist, Jimmy Carter Library, Atlanta, Georgia; Geir Gundersen, Archivist, Gerald R. Ford Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan; the archivists of the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts; and Pat Anderson of the Nixon Presidential Materials staff of the National Archives.
In California, a number of people were instrumental in helping me trace the intricate business and personal relationship of Hal Wallis and Parker, beginning with the staff of the Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: Linda Mehr, Barbara Hall, Faye Thompson, Bonnie Daley, Marcelle Angelo, Eddie Baker, Sue Bulden, Galen Wilkes, Andrea Battiste, Jonathan Wahl, Matt Poodiack, Scott Curtis, and Kristine Krueger of the library’s National Film Information Service. Larrian Gillespie not only worked alongside me there, but offered room and board and showed me the sights of L.A. She was a true friend when I needed one.
And in Nashville, Kent Henderson, Ronnie Pugh, Alan Stoker, Paul Kingsbury, John Rumble, Dawn Oberg and Kyle Young of the Country Music Foundation gave aid and comfort at every turn, Kent going on to pore though government documents outside the office.
Thanks additionally to David Millman, Nevada State Historical Society and Museum, and to Frank Gorrell for his expert tutelage in the art of gambling and his recollection of Parker’s personal history in the Las Vegas casinos.
As usual on any project, my fellow journalists bolstered me with facts, interviews, and long-distance hand-holding. I’m especially indebted to Moira Bailey and Kristen Kelch of People magazine; Bill Bastone of The Village Voice; Ted Bridis, Ed Staats, Lisa Holewa, and James Derk of the Associated Press; Andrea Campbell; Bob Cannon; Roger Capettini; Floyd Martin Clay; James P. Cole; Patsi Bale Cox; Don Cusic; Joe Delaney, Ruthe Deskin, Dee McConnell, and Merilyn Potters of The Las Vegas Sun; Jim Dickerson; Joe Elliott, WHAS Radio, Louisville, Kentucky; Pat Embry of The Nashville Banner; Jim Emerson; Ralph Emery; Todd Everett; Chet Flippo of CMT.com; Stephen Fried; Peter Gilstrap; Vernell Hackett; Michael Hall of Texas Monthly; Stacy Harris; Leland Hawes of The Tampa Tribune; Jack Hurst; Chris Hutchins; Beth Johnson of Entertainment Weekly; Rich Kienzle; Deborah Evans Price, Billboard magazine; Danny Proctor; Tamara Saviano; Tom Scherberger of the St. Petersburg Times; Elizabeth Schlappi; Bob Schulman; Steve Simels; Panky Snow; Linda Upton; Bill Willard; E. Bingo Wyer; and especially Beverly Keel, who turned her reportorial skills to my cause, and not just because her journalist father coined the term “Elvis the Pelvis.”
Thanks also to Marsha Mercer of Media General News Corp.; Margaret Schmidt of The Jersey Journal, Jersey City, New Jersey; the library staff of The Louisville Courier-Journal; David Valenzuela, Carolyn Marlin, and Anita Coursey of the library staff of The Nashville Banner; and Kyle Neiderpruem, Freedom of Information Committee, Society of Professional Journalists.
Additionally, I am grateful to my tireless researchers: Jim Cole of the Mississippi Valley Collection, University of Memphis; Pam Courtney; Juliana Hoskinson; Art Nadler; Nancy Randle; Margaret Shannon; and Lynn Waddell. Judy Raphael not only did research, but also introduced me to the book’s single best source, her brother, Byron. And Charlene Blevins accepted a records-checking task that tested her both as a journalist and as a thespian, and proved her equally skilled at both.
Thanks also to the following, who helped with a myriad of special collections and archives: the staff of the American Film Institute; Manny Arocho, Librarian, Special Collections Department, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System; Art Bagely, Special Collections, University of Tampa; Carol Butler, Salvador Dali Museum; Dean DeBolt and Benita Fox, University Librarians, Special Collections and West Florida Archives, John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida; William B. Eigelsbach, Manuscripts, University of Tennessee Libraries; Ed Frank, James Montague, and Sharon Banker of the Mississippi Valley Collection, the University of Memphis; General Library and Museum of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center; Sharon Johnson, Special Collections Librarian and Archivist, Autry Museum of Western Heritage; Ashley Koostra, Archivist, Mississippi Department of Archives and History; Lois Latimer of the Tampa Historical Society; Laura Lupole and June Miller-Spaan of the Chautauqua Institute; Robert A. McCown, Special Collections Library, State University of Iowa; Sally McManus, Palm Springs Historical Society; the staff of Profnet, for Internet search queries; Dr. Richard Ranta, the University of Memphis; Cheryl Rogers-Barnett, Director of the Roy Rogers–Dale Evans Museum; Ed Schreiber and Michelle T. Rogers, for copies of letters Parker’s office sent to fans; Phyllis Stinson, for sharing her incredible archive of Parker memorabilia; Robert Vay and Paul S. Koda, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia; Mark Weitzman of the Simon Weisenthal Center; and Travis Westly, Reference Specialist, the Library of Congress.
For help with the Albert Goldman archives, Jere Herzenberg, Carolyn Krupp, and Jane Krupp.
And for additional assistance with obtaining and interpreting information regarding Parker’s army years, thanks go to Colonel Gregory Belenky, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; J. Earle Bowden, historian and former editor of The Pensacola News-Journal; Leah Dickstein, M.D., Director of the Division of Attitudinal and Behavioral Medicine, University of Louisville; Thomas M. Fairfull, Chief, Museum Division, U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Donne Florence, University Relations, Media, and Publications, University of Hawaii; Judith A. Bowman, Assistant Curator, U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii; Lt. Col. Allen Frenzel, U.S. Army, Professor of Military Science, University of Hawaii; Jerry Goodson, Reno Veterans Affairs Office; Susan Heffner, Director of Library and Archives, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C.; Wendy Hollingsworth, Assistant Branch Chief in the Records Reconstruction Branch at the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri; David J. Johnson, Museum Technician, the Casemate Museum, Fort Monroe, Virginia; Lt. Col. Richard S. Johnson; Earl Kilgus, for sharing memories of Fort Shafter, and his grandson, Robert H. Egolf III, for the photograph of the 64th Coast Artillery; David P. Ogden; Al Reynolds, Reference Librarian of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Library; David A. Ross, Curator of the Air Defense Artillery Museum in Fort Bliss, Texas; Bud Smyser of The Honolulu Star-Bulletin; Mr. and Mrs. Clifton E. Sprinkle Jr., Raymond Willis Sprinkle, and Scott Sprinkle, for help with the Fort Barrancas years; and Dr. Sheila A. Schuster, both for help with interpretation of - Parker’s army papers and for the loan of an audiotape transcriber.
For help with Parker’s early years in America, Allen “Slim” Binkley; Paul E. Mix; the Tom Mix Museum, Dewey, Oklahoma; Merle “Bud” Norris; Dr. Richard F. Seiverling; and Debbie Taylor of the Tampa Bay Humane Society.
Parker’s immigration history and illegal alien status were especially difficult to track. My thanks to the following for assistance: Robert Ellis of the National Archive; Linda Kloss of the FBI’s Freedom of Information Privacy Act Section, Washington, D.C.; Diane Biggs Korwin, Gary Baude, and Marian Smith of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; the Honorable Ron Mazzoli; Margaret Roman of the U.S. State Department; Lily Talapessy of the Dutch Consolate, New York; and Blanchard E. Tual.
For insight into the carnival years, Jack Bennett; John Campi; Cheryl Collins; Fred Dahlinger Jr., Director, Collections and Research, Circus World Museum, Baraboo, Wisconsin; Larry Davis; Bruce Feiler; James E. Foster, editor, The White Tops; Chappie Fox; Ken Fox, Magic Makers Costumes, Huntington, West Virginia; Dave Friedman; Bob Goldsack, publisher, Midway Museum Publications; Ward Hall; Minnie Heth; Allan C. Hill; Joseph G. Hoffman; Bob Jarvis; Don Marcks of The Circus Report; Joe McKennon; Harley Newman; Fred D. Pfening Jr., editor, Bandwagon magazine; Maggie Riley; Judy “Rustie” Rock; Renee Storey of the Clyde Beatty/Cole Bros. Circus; Jeanie Tomaini; Hoxie Tucker; Ernie Wenzik; Bettie Siegel Whittaker; Safari Pete Wood. And for foot-long hot dog research: Chris Brian, Bill Dryden, Rick McCarty, and Kenny Vincent.
On such a project, photographs are especially important, and while many people contributed, I owe a round of applause to Jeff Burak, Time Pix; Kelly C. Hill, Photography Research Manager, and Angie Marchise, Curatorial Assistant, Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc.; Steve Buchanan, President, Grand Ole Opry Group, and Barbara Turner, Gaylord Entertainment Group, for assistance with the Gordon Gillingham photo collection; Maria Columbus; James Forsher; Tony Davidson; Trish McGee, the Ryman Auditorium; John Mott; Elizabeth Odle, The Nashville Public Library; James R. Reid; Michele Romero, Entertainment Weekly; Robin Rosaaen; Karen Silveroli, the Las Vegas News Bureau; Marsh Starks and Rebecca Bagayas, The Las Vegas Sun; The Tampa Tribune library and photo departments; Richard Weize and Heidi Cordsmeier of Bear Family Records; and the incomparable Al Wertheimer.
A very special thanks to Greg Howell, former exhibitions and collections manager of Graceland; to Paula B. Kennedy and Joan Buchanan West, of the E. P. Continentals Elvis Fan Club, who helped me unearth a key part of Marie Parker’s past; and to Mark North, who gave me an extraordinary tour of Parker’s former home in Madison, Tennessee.
And for care and feeding of the author, Elizabeth Thiels and Ellen and Bill Pryor in Nashville; Ted Dons and Maria Dons-Maas in Holland; Barbara Shircliffe, Sandra Polk Ross, and Frances Keenan in Tampa; and in Memphis, Charles and Virginia Overholt, who at the directive of Diana Magrann, kindly let me stay in Vernon Presley’s house. My Memphis cousin, DeAnna Mooneyhan, was brave beyond all measure.
On a technical note, it’s impossible to properly thank Jerry Maskalick and Dan Coddington of Dr. Dan’s Computers, as well as Brian Arnold, for modifying my word processing for this project, and for gluing it—and me—back together when my system crashed, and crashed, and crashed.
Finally, I haven’t the words to thank my parents, Allan and Emily Kay Nash, who gave me bottomless financial and emotional support during this long and difficult journey. No mother and father could have done more. Judy F. May, Elizabeth Clifford, and Robert Morse also deserve my deepest gratitude for always being there, as does Carolyn Shircliffe, who transcribed nearly all of the hundreds of interviews I conducted for the book. Her family—Mary Jo Shircliffe, Barbara Shircliffe, and the late Montgomery Shircliffe—did so much in innumerable ways to make this book see the light of day, and served as my guardian angels on a constant basis. Additionally, Robin Rosaaen supervised all critical Elvis sightings, and Bill and Connie Burk performed Herculean deeds, especially on our joint trip to Holland. Bill also fact-checked the manuscript.
Warm thanks, too, to Bobbie Ann Mason and Frances Zichanowicz, who kept me buoyed during the last half of the writing. And I’m especially grateful to Phil Collier of Stites & Harbison for extraordinary legal magic, and Hugh Wright, Leslie K. Hale, Missy Coorssen of National City Bank, and Susan Lemley of Grover Greweling & Co., CPA.
In many ways, it is astonishing that this book survived the many setbacks that threatened its publication, but then it had many shepherds along the way. Joyce Engelson, as always, offered sage advice and enthusiasm when I needed it most, as did Regula Noetzli and David Black.
But it was Sam Hughes and Bob Solinger of the Dickens Group Literary Agency who lent a peerless stewardship. Sam was the one who strongly encouraged me to do the book, since I had met with the Colonel on three occasions in Las Vegas and had written about him in my two previous books on Elvis. She was always the one with the clearest vision for it, never giving up when others, including myself, lost faith.
Sam and I labored through some wrenching times in the six years it took to bring the book to completion, and at one dark juncture, we not only split our business association, but also dissolved our deep friendship. Two years went by before we reconciled, and she set me back on course to continue the writing, working several miracles along the way. “It just looks as if we were meant to be together,” she said, and I knew she was right.
The day after Simon & Schuster agreed to acquire the book, Sam became ill with pneumonia. Two weeks later, she died, at the age of fifty-five, leaving a crater in my heart and an unfillable void in the lives of her family and clients. After that, not a day went by that I didn’t feel her sitting next to me at the word processor, suggesting a word here, elaborating on an idea there. Now a project that started out as one kind of haunting had turned into another. Here’s to you, Sam. I’ll be seeing you.