helped me out and sometimes kept me company. I was fortunate to
receive a two-week residency at Mesa Refuge in Point Reyes with
Sarah Chang and Zahir Janmohammed, who kept me in good supply
of Korean BBQ and chai. Thanks for that magical place to Peter
Barnes, Susan Page Tillett and Patricia Duncan. Also thanks to the
good people of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. My brother
and sister-in-law Jamie and Wendy Friar also let me hole up in their
basement for a few days to write. Thanks to Michelle Nijhuis for
cavorting with me between tacos and writing spurts in the Sonoran
Desert and to Margaret Nomentana for supplying a lake in Maine, a
couple of lobsters, and some loving childcare. I couldn’t have escaped
my parenting duties without other helpful assists from Penny
Willams, world’s greatest mother-in-law, Rachel Baranowski and
Allison Frisch. Kate Sheridan and Danielle Roth ably helped with
some research and fact-checking.
I’m very grateful to my D.C. writing pals and peers, Josh Horwitz,
Juliet Eilperin, David Grinspoon, Eric Weiner, Tim Zimmermann,
Jacki Lyden, Maarten Troost, Margaret Talbot, Alex Zapruder and
Hanna Rosin. You all made my transition to D.C. infinitely better, and
you inspire me with your smarts and talents. My old writing pals in
Boulder continued to offer support, read large portions of the
manuscript and entertained me with funny tales of the boho town I
left. Thank you Hannah Nordhaus, Hillary Rosner, Melanie Warner
and, especially, the talented Lisa Jones, who in addition to being my
partner in many adventures is also my dear sister-in-law. Also thanks
to D.C. buddies Eliza McGraw, Kim Larson, Donna Oetzel, Margaret
Reitano, Melissa Boasberg, Will and Erica Shafroth, Kirk Johnson
and Chase DeForest, and to farther- flung friends Julie Frieder and
Ann Vileisis, who all offered help as sounding boards. Sometimes we
even got out in nature.
Flora Lichtman provided graphics inspiration. I may not be a fan
of all things virtual, but I’m fortunate to have a cyber coterie of