My heartfelt thanks, as always, to my wife, Sandy; my children, Wendy, Ron, and Tracy; my editor, Ruth Cavin, and her assistant, Marika Rohn; my literary agent, Bob Diforio; and my circle of loyal manuscript readers.

My appreciation to my sister, Tillie Young, for medical assistance, and to Dina Vanides, for legal research.

Beyond that, I am forever in debt to my parents, Fran and Mac, who (though gone nearly twenty-five years now) continue to shape so much of who I am and what I do.