First and foremost, we acknowledge the practice of writing together as equals, each working hard to figure out/in equity and authority of access to meaning making with the other. And we acknowledge our Deleuzian sensibility of being always already a bunch of others.
We acknowledge the “Sutton and Mifsud” brand as a brand, a mechanism for ease of reference and identification, not an indication of the order (organization and command) of authorship. We wish to acknowledge that ours is a collaboration that renders rather useless the idea of individual authorship, or perhaps even authorship at all. To acknowledge our alloiō goal means operating with an intense awareness that the spirit of collaboration steers rhetoric’s theoretical compass beyond its boundaries.
We acknowledge the lesson in creative work that Henry Johnstone offers: a creative process consists of a series of steps, none of which is determined by its predecessors but each of which, once taken, is seen to have been a fitting sequel to its predecessors. A creative process finds two or more people cooperating, taking turns to make the step that is retrospectively seen to have been appropriate. We acknowledge our collaboration as creative, cooperative, equitable.
Second, each of us wishes to acknowledge our teachers. Jane is indebted to George A. Kennedy and his seminar in Aristotle’s Rhetoric while working on her doctorate at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Kennedy’s love of this text inspired her to read closely; William Grimaldi who presented his work on Aristotle’s Rhetoric to her in both formal and informal settings affirming through extended conversations Jane’s commitment to studying Aristotle through the lens of difference; T. C. Johnson whose classes at Western State University in Gunnison, Colorado in ancient Greek writers encouraged her study of women; and Thomas S. Frentz whose seminar in rhetoric at the University of Colorado, Boulder led to their many exchanges about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,a book that inspired her to pursue the sophists, which led Jane to John Poulakos with whom she initiated a talk in 1983 at the National Communication Association, Washington, DC, a conversation on rhetoric continuing still. Mari Lee wishes to acknowledge the generosities of all her teachers, especially Henry Johnstone, whose emeritus classroom at the Atherton dining room was so fitting for their years long explorations of philosophy and rhetoric; David Vancil, who insisted on her extended study of ancient Greek and encouraged her study of doxa in ancient Greek rhetorical theory; Jay Ward, her English professor at Thiel College, who most generously invited her to study with him the history and theory of rhetoric across two semesters of independent study; and Hugh Ringer, with whom she had the honor of oratorical training starting in the seventh grade as a member of the Mercer High School Speech Team, instilling in her a life-long love of rhetoric.
Both of us wish to acknowledge as well the role John Poulakos plays in our work. Not only has he been a constant source of energy, banter, and conversation testing and exploring our ideas over the past twenty years, but he is the teacher of our contributors, Michele Kennerly and Odile Hobeika.
Both of us wish to acknowledge our husbands for their constant support of our writing.
From Jane to Jerry.
And, from Mari Lee to Brian.