Our first debt of gratitude goes to the barbecue champs who responded to our call for recipes and other information. We asked many champs for a lot of information. The ones you see in this book responded to the call, and you are the beneficiary. We appreciate the good intentions of many who intended to respond but for business or other reasons couldn’t get to it in time for our deadlines. We understand, and we hope to work with you on future books.
It was truly a delight to be in contact with so many barbecue champs as we wrote this book. We learned more about them, more about us, and more about barbecue. We give them our hearty thanks! Not only have they given you some top-notch recipes to ramp up your future backyard barbecues; they have reaffirmed for us that the spirit of cooperation and sharing is still alive and well in the competition barbecue community.
We thank the many deceased barbecue champs and friends upon whose shoulders today’s pitmasters stand. Although their physical presence is gone, their influence and spirit remain. We are better persons and cooks for having known them. We especially want to single out Gary Wells, Al Lawson, Karen Putnam, Tony Stone, Big Will Wright, Bob Carruthers, Fred Gould, Brian Heinecke, Cheryl Litman, Jack Kay, Cliff Weddington, Maxine “Shaky Puddin” Fiel, Jimmy Bedford, Judy Heslar, Don Gillis, Charlie Vergos, Ray “Red” Gil, Charlie Knote, Raymond Robinson, Otis Boyd, Arthur Bryant, Andrea Ravinett Martin, Jim Quessenberry, Herb Schwartz, Bobby Mueller, Pete Jones, and Giancarlo Giannelli.
Thanks to our many friends in the barbecue industry who sustain us with their barbecue and carry the barbecue tradition forward to today’s and tomorrow’s generations. To name only a few: Dr. Rich Davis, Jack Fiorella, Case Dorman, Johnny White, Ron Quick, Jeff & Joy Stehney, Doug Worgul, Josh Johnston, Eric White, A. D. Chappell, Phil Donaldson, DennyMike Sherman, Ben Lang, Brad Barrett, Don McLemore, Van Sykes, Josh Baum, Otis & Earlene Walker, Nicole Davenport, John Markus, Wilbur King, Lindsay Shannon, Ryan Brooks, Edgar, Norma, Kent & Buddy Black, Kelly & Roni Wertz, Amy Anderson, Melanie Tapia, Elaine Anton, Curtis Tuff, Mike Mills, Amy Mills, John Stage, Danny & Carey Head, John “Daredevil Bad McFad” Raven, Wayne Mueller, Joe Don Davidson, Jack Cawthon, Ray Green, Bill Felder, Dave & Lynn Aronson, Danny Meyers, Silky & Joellyn Sullivan, Sandra Lyon, David Bailey, Carl Rothrock, Mike & Debbie McMillan, Dr. Howard Taylor, Melvin & Maurice Bessinger, John T Edge, Matt & Ted Lee, Ed Mitchell, Ron Harwell, Mike & Theresa Lake, Charlotte Finch, Scott McClard, Danny & Carolyn Gaulden, Adam Perry Lang, David Campbell, Mark Brown, Frank Alfonso, Velmer Stevenson, Joel Latham, Moses Quartey, Jerry Vandergrift, Wilber Shirley, Elizabeth Lumpkin, Rusty “Rooster” Dees, Rudy Mikeska, Washington Perry, Jeff Sanders, Steve & Janice Katz, Mike & Audrey Budai, Carolyn Wells, Wayne Lohman, Bill Gage, Randy Bigler, Tana Shupe, Debbie Christian, Marge Plummer, Chris Marks, Bob Snelson, Mike & Debbie Davis, Rod Gray, Myron Mixon, Anne Rehnstrom, Kathie Dakai, Guy “Guido” Fieri, Guido & Cathy Meindl, Michael McDearman, Ardith & Ted Richardson, Don & Leslie Lovely, Tom & Lisa Raitt, Kathleen McIntosh, Jay “The Snail” Vantuyl, Monty Spradling, Mike Tucker, Tuffy Stone, Johnny Trigg, George Hensler, Olivia & Sonny Ashford, Nick Spinelli, Mike Garrison, Jerry Bressel & the entire Flying BBQ Judges planeload!
It isn’t a mystery to friends who know him that Ardie loves to read mysteries. He was a loyal customer at the former I Love a Mystery bookstore in Mission, Kansas. That connection led to mention of the barbecue mystery genre in The Kansas City Barbeque Society Cookbook, 25th Anniversary Edition. The store sponsored several book-signing events for us, complete with free barbecue samples from nearby Johnny’s Bar-B-Cue. Hats off to the I Love a Mystery staff: Becci West, Maggie Wood, Lou Pieper, Louise Lucas, and Toni Bennington.
Special thanks to Mary, Gretchen, Jessica, Chris, Erin, Sarah, Alan, Zachary, Henry, Emma, Lee, Kelli, Elliott, Elise, and Todd for their love and encouragement and for tolerating our absence because “the book is almost due!” all along the way.
Thanks also for encouragement and ideas from friends—Gloria Walker, Linda Ray, Stan & Ann Nelson, Phyllis Mueller, Perry and Cheri Skrukrud, Ron and Joan Goettsch, Bill Herman, Ron, Mary & Geof Buchholz, Terry Lee, Diane Thompson, George Dugger, Mary Winslow, Howard Rasmussen, Sherry Melberg, Becky Bryant, Jerry & Diane Wilson, Mark & Tammy Almich, and Jill Schwiderski.
We are again thankful for quiet meeting space in the Cedar Roe Library, Roeland Park, Kansas. Thanks to friendly, competent, resourceful staffers Meredith Roberson, branch manager, and Michele Holden for making space available for us. We applaud the work of the entire staff at Cedar Roe Library for making it a valuable community resource for patrons of all ages. A tip of our hats to former library staffer Debbie Crough, wishing you a happy retirement.
We are forever grateful for and proud to work with the outstanding team of professionals at Andrews McMeel Publishing. Our special thanks to Kirsty Melville, head of the book division, for adopting us as her barbecue guys; Lane Butler, our super-competent editor, who keeps us on task, is attentive to details, is a gentle, patient taskmaster, and makes us look good. Tim Lynch and Diane Marsh, the design team, embellish our text with artful, appealing photos and graphic eye candy from cover to cover. Emily Farris, our publicist, spreads the word about our books far and wide. Lynn McAdoo, and everyone else in sales, works with book vendors large and small to make sure we’re out front and visible.
Dennis Hayes, our friend, advocate, and agent, is always several steps ahead, navigating us through the exciting changes in today’s publishing industry, one project at a time.
Finally, we thank Scott Turow, president of the Authors Guild, and the excellent guild staff for helping us with contract details, keeping us informed of publishing industry issues vital to authors’ well-being, and their continuous advocacy for all authors.