ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Let me start by thanking the people at David C. Cook, who saw enough merit in these pages to want to publish them. Then I’d like to thank my agent, Mary Sue Seymour, who called their attention to these pages. She’s a sweet lady who jumped on this thing from day one and made it happen. Thanks also to Steve Parolini, my editor. I was sweating him the most; but he turned out to be one of the good guys. He knows his business, understands people, and is a fair man. You can’t ask for more than that.

But I always seemed to get more than I deserved. My pal and attorney, Russ Farrar, put the deal together. My lovely wife, Debbie, and brother, Harold, and sons, Debo and Langdon, and writer/friend Charles Culbertson read the chapters as I wrote them and told me how wonderful they were. Sometimes they even told me the truth, and I went back and fixed things and made them right.

And I can’t forget my hometown of Staunton, Virginia. I borrowed its streets and buildings and landmarks and houses and churches for this book. Only the name was changed. I’m not exactly sure why I did that, but I liked “Mt. Jefferson” and eventually came to love it. I hope you will too.