Advisories And Acknowledgements

The events depicted in The Sugar Alpha Chronicles actually happened. Some names, dates and locations have been changed to protect the innocent, the guilty, and the unindicted, and some literary license has been taken to fill in gaps and smooth out the narrative where the record was fuzzy or non-existent, but the bottom line is: All of it is truth, most of it is fact—and the more outrageous and unbelievable any part of it seems, the more likely it is to be both truth and fact.

 

Another fact is that my dad and I wouldn’t have been able to complete The Sugar Alpha Chronicles without a lot of help from people who wanted as much as we did to share his story with the world. First thanks, of course, go to my mom, Jeanie, who stood by my side through the entire project. And thanks to my dad’s skydiver friend who transcribed the hand-written and typewritten pages onto a computer so we could actually do something with it when my dad finished his sentence.

Next, thanks to the friends and family members who recalled so many narrative pieces of that era, and the advisors who helped me track down various records. I also owe a debt of thanks to those who helped me find the police and court documents related to my dad’s adventures, many of which were not computerized and thus physically difficult to find.

Next, thanks to Ben Lowe, love of my life, business partner, and sounding board through good moments and bad as I put together Sugar Alpha.

Thanks also to my publishers, whose 2012 review notes and recommendations about Sugar Alpha were so pivotal in shaping its final form.

Which brings me to my next thank you; to Robin “Black Death” Heid, a longtime skydiver, pioneering BASE jumper, prolific and respected writer-editor, and a friend of my dad’s—who had years before sent Sugar Alpha to him on a 3.5-inch disc, then died before they could ready it for publication. The disk ended up forgotten in a file box until Robin found it while looking for something else and called to ask me what was going on with it. He was happy to hear I was working on it, and he offered his services, but I told him I was almost done, thanked him for calling, and said I’d get in touch if I needed him—but I was sure I wouldn’t.

Then I got the publisher’s notes and knew I needed him after all, so I sent him an email. He was at that moment on a mountain in the middle of China, judging a wingsuit BASE jumping race that was being broadcast live to 100 million-plus Chinese and other Asians, an event that would have made my dad laugh at the Sugar Alpha audacity of it all. Robin said he’d love to help me get it over the finish line, so when he got back to the U.S., he checked out the publisher’s notes, then tuned up the work my dad and I did to match their notes and recommendations.

My final thanks goes to you, dear readers, for trusting that Sugar Alpha was a good way to spend your time and money. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!