I am forever grateful for the encouragement and wisdom of my brilliant editor, Martha Kanya-Forstner. She knows how to make everything better. To my tireless publicist, Scott Sellers, thank you. Special thanks to Amy Black, Susan Burns, Kristin Cochrane, Zoë Maslow, Shaun Oakey, Terri Nimmo and Ward Hawkes. A special thanks to Paige Sisley. I also owe much to my incredible agent, Dean Cooke.
This book would not be in your hands if it were not for my trusted early readers. I want to thank them for their friendship and support: Susan Mockler, the late Bernie Grzyb, James Papoutsis, Rekha Lakra, Susan Shuter, Sheila Murray, and Hendrika Haasen.
I would like to thank my uncles and the many veterans I interviewed who relived their experiences with me. A special thanks to Gilberto Do Rego Sousa and his wife, Connie Almeida Sousa.
I am indebted to the staff of both the Canadian and Tanzanian branches of Under the Same Sun, an NGO committed to supporting and educating people with albinism in Tanzania. Special thanks to Peter Ash, founder and CEO of UTSS, for agreeing to have me shadow him on a visit to Tanzania. I want to thank Don Sawatzky for keeping me informed. Special thanks to Vicky Ntetema, a remarkable woman who works tirelessly to educate and protect the human rights of people with albinism. To all the unforgettable people, many of them children, who shared their stories of living with albinism. To find out more, including how you can help people with albinism, please visit www.underthesamesun.com
Deep gratitude to Gregory Carr, an American entrepreneur and philanthropist committed to the restoration of Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park. Working alongside him is the passionate Vasco Galante, Director of Communications. What they shared with me became essential to the writing of this book. A special thanks to everyone who made my visit to Gorongosa unforgettable: Barbara Matadinho, Leonardo Mandevo, Moutinho Nhongo, and Yannik Bindert. To learn more about the important work these individuals do, please visit http://www.gorongosa.org. In Beira, a special thanks to Graem White and Carrie Davies. I am also grateful to Mário Pinto, who did the unthinkable and managed to secure access to the Grande Hotel to walk its halls and meet with many of its residents.
And finally, as ever, thanks and love to my sons, Julian, Oliver, Simon, who always make me want to do better, be better. And to my wife, Stephanie, to whose love this book is dedicated.