As for me, I found the world of commercial diving and megaproject infrastructure endlessly fascinating. I emerge with immense respect for the work done by Billy, Tim, DJ, Riggs, Hoss, and others like them. The high-risk assignments that so many anonymous workers take on every day are essential to the progress the rest of us enjoy.
A Note on Sources
I conducted hundreds of interviews in the course of researching this book and reviewed thousands of pages of documents as well as extensive video footage, audio files, and photographs. But in the interest of space, I have generally not included citations for my interviews in this notes section, except in cases where clarity demands it. In most of the citations that follow, I source particular documents or materials, or interviews conducted by someone other than me. All quoted material and dialogue comes from transcripts, written documents, or audio recordings, or from the specific recollections of at least one—usually two—of the people being quoted. In cases where people’s memories on a certain point did not agree, I made my best judgment on whose was likely the most accurate. I placed the greatest emphasis on the memories that were supported by contemporaneous notes, or were corroborated by others, or came from someone who in my judgment had had a superior vantage point on a particular event. In the notes that follow, I have, where appropriate, pointed out instances where people’s memories do not align.
About the Author
NEIL SWIDEY is author of The Assist, a Boston Globe bestseller that was named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, and a coauthor of the New York Times bestselling Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy. A staff writer for The Boston Globe Magazine, Swidey has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award and has won the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists three times. His work has been featured in The Best American Science Writing The Best American Crime Writing, and The Best American Political Writing. As an outgrowth of his first book, he founded the nonprofit Alray Scholars Program, which helps Boston students return to college. He lives outside Boston with his wife and three daughters.
For more on Neil Swidey, and to see photos and illustrations of the events described in this book, please visit www.neilswidey.com.