A work of historical fiction is impossible without help from a lot of people. My first debt of gratitude is to historians who chronicle events so they won’t be forgotten by the rest of us. I especially admire Rosa King and Angelina Jimenez for their fortitude during extremely difficult and dangerous times and for leaving vivid accounts of their experiences.
Several people provided assistance during my stay in Cuernavaca. Special thanks go to William J. Cummins, creator, owner, host, and gourmet chef of the lovely Inn Cuernavaca, and to his grandson Nikita Andrew Schupbach. They were a mine of information about the city and its surroundings.
Lic. Rene Sanchez Beltran wrote the introduction to the Spanish edition of Rosa King’s book, Tempest over Mexico, and he informed me of the whereabouts of the village so important to this story and to Rosa’s. Without his knowledge I would not have known it still existed. His wife, Sra. Azalia Silva de Sanchez, manages Internet Siglo XXI, the cyber café in the building that was Rosa King’s old Bella Vista hotel. Finding Sra. Sanchez and her husband was one of those serendipitous encounters that make research trips fun and fascinating.
Long-time residents James Sartin and Mel Puterbaugh shared with me a book of hundreds of photos taken in Cuernavaca from 1857 to 1930. Because of their generosity I could describe details that I would not have known about otherwise.
Sr. Onesimo Gonzalez, secretary of tourism and curator of the exhibit of old photographs in the Museo del Castillito, was also very informative.
I counted a great deal on the knowledge of friends. James Luceno provided insight into Mexican culture and customs and gave me obscure words and phrases that would have been in use a hundred years ago.
What David Eccles and Eric McCallister Smith know about guns continues to amaze me. If mistakes in weaponry appear here, it’s because I neglected to clear the terminology with them.
Elaine Nash is an expert on horses. She set me straight on their behavior in general and on Andalusians in particular.
Dr. Terry DelBene, archaeologist, historian, and re enactor, knows a thing or six about dynamite and the niceties of blowing up a train. Always useful information in a revolution.
Inspiration for the book’s title came from a story that appeared in True West magazine in 1986. The story, “Last Train from Cuernavaca,” was coauthored by the late Dr. George Agogino and Lynda A. Sanchez. My thanks to Ms. Sanchez for graciously sharing the title with me.
I’m grateful to my erudite and patient editor, Bob Gleason, and to Tom Doherty of Tom Doherty Associates. Thanks also to my literary agent, Mel Berger, and to my former agent, Ginger Barber, who encouraged, inspired, and abetted me for twenty years.
As always, I’m indebted to Ginny Stibolt for her friendship, wise counsel, and Web site expertise.