The author is indebted to the following for their suggestions and help in the research for Waiting.
Dr. Mark Hall of the anthropology department of the University of California at Berkeley for information relating to primitive man.
Pam and Terry Floyd for insights concerning the operation of hospital emergency rooms as well as medical practices in general.
Randy Alfred, who knows a great deal about a lot of things and especially about the operation of television newsrooms.
Richard Lupoff, fellow writer and pasta cook extraordinaire, for helpful suggestions regarding plotting, characterization, comma placement, and other esoterica of the storyteller’s craft.
And last but far from least, my editor, David Hartwell, who helped make what I considered a good book even better.
For those readers who may wonder what makes a writer tick: I’m fond of didactic novels, books that inform as well as (hopefully) entertain. And yes, many of my characters reflect different aspects of myself. You pick which ones. And finally: Do I personally believe in the major premise of Waiting?
You bet.
—Frank M. Robinson
San Francisco
August 1998