Author’s Note

When I began to write about the people of the imagined community of Port William in 1955, I had no idea that I would still be writing about them in 1999. I had no plan, and I still don’t.

Having had no plan, I have made “errors” of genealogy and geography that I haven’t been aware of until readers (more alert and responsible than I am) have pointed them out to me.

In this new edition of The Memory of Old Jack, I have made some changes to correct those errors, and some changes merely to improve my editing.

Nothing of substance has been changed. Neither in this book nor in my thoughts have I qualified my loyalty to this old man and his hard-earned, beautiful knowledge.