I was certainly not up to it when I began, but I was fortunate enough to have people who knew what they were doing on my side: my uncle Danny, who gave me the straight truth about my feeble early attempts, and my agent, Chuck Verrill, who knew exactly how to turn an idea into a book. Those early attempts benefited greatly from the editing pencils of Michele Mortimer at Darhansoff, Verrill, and Feldman; Allen Freeman and Jean Stipicivic at the American Scholar; and Michelle Wildgen at Tin House.
I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my editor, Tina Pohl-man, who is both a sharp-eyed professional and a cool chick. I am also lucky to count among my friends Dara Moskowitz and Dennis Cass, fabulous writers who are unnecessarily generous with their time and advice. I thank Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau for taking me on and Mike Mezzo and Mya Spalter for seeing me through.
I received invaluable feedback and encouragement from Amanda Pollak, Michael Silverstein, and Nicole Juday. And the book would not have been possible without the many people who answered my questions and shared their stories with me: Shirley McNaughton, Ann Running, Paul Marshall, Douglas Everingham, Richard Ure, Ann Weilgart, Andrea Patten, John Clifford, Bob LeChevalier, Nora Tansky, Jennifer Brown, Joy Barnes, Evy Anderson, Hazel Morgan, Bob Mclvor, Joseph Vandiver, Charles Robbins, Mark Shoulson, Marc Okrand, Lawrence Schoen, Louise Whitty, Humphrey Tonkin, Normand Fleury, Suzette Haden Elgin, Sarah Higley, and all the participants at the Esperanto, Lojban, Klingon, and Conlang conferences I attended.
None of this happens without good child care. For that I’d like to thank the entire staff of the Canaan Baptist Church day care, especially Ms. Linda Dubose, who was there from the beginning. Thanks also to Joey Dziomba and Arianna Neromiliotis at the community preschool of the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf for doing great things with small people.
And thank you, Derrick, Leo, and Louisa, for making life sweet.
Copyright © 2009 by Arika Okrent
All rights reserved.