I could never have done this without the help of a large number of people. I am grateful to them all.

I would like to thank Christine Johnson, who started psychosurgery.org and introduced me to Dave Isay and Sound Portraits, and Carol Noell Duncanson, who introduced me to Christine.

I would like to thank Dave Isay and Piya Kochhar. Dave is a man who changes lives, and Piya is the world’s greatest con artist. She got me to fly! And she got me to interview my father. I’m still not sure how she tricked me into doing those things, but I love her and Dave very much.

I would like to thank all the friends I made at National Public Radio, and at Sound Portraits. I’d like to particularly thank Larry Blood and the other people at KUSP.

I would like to thank all the people who agreed to be interviewed, particularly Frank Freeman and Dr. Robert Lichtenstein.

I would like to thank Dr. Elliot Valenstein for his book Great and Desperate Cures, and Jack El-Hai for his book The Lobotomist. These men and their writings were very helpful in the assembling of this book. Also very helpful to me were David Anderson, Lyle Slovick, and the other archivists at the Walter Freeman and James Watts Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, The Gelman Library, George Washington University. Thank you also to magazine photographer Debra McClinton for her generosity.

My family has been very patient with me through this ordeal. I want to thank my dad for putting up with my questions, and his wife, Lois, for watching over my dad. I love them both so much.

My sons, Rodney and Justin, were very helpful to me, too. I’m so proud of them both.

My brothers, George, Brian, and Kirk were also very patient with my questions. They were willing to go back to a painful place and time. I’m honored to be their brother. I’d like to thank my uncle Kenneth for helping, too.

I want to thank my agent, Gary Morris of the David Black Agency, for introducing me to my cowriter, Charles Fleming, and my editor, Heather Jackson. I want to thank Charles and Heather for believing in this project.

And, last, I want to thank Barbara Lee Dully, my wife and partner. She stuck by me when I was down in the dumps, and lifted me up, time and time again, by showing me that it was all going to work out someday. She was right. I love her, and am honored by knowing her.