Acknowledgements

First, I acknowledge the support of my wife Janet, who encouraged me to write a book,
and accommodated and protected my need for solitude to read, think, and write. She also
acted as a sounding board for all of my ideas, giving her honest opinion. I am grateful.
Next, I thank my business partners, especially Lewis Nakatsui and Mike Gendron, and
my staff, especially Percy Pouliot, Ray Mitchell, Wesley Gunderson, and Stephen
Anderson, who allowed, supported, and encouraged me to set aside Wednesdays,
beginning in January 2000, to explore my passion for writing.
For this book, Inspiration to Live Your MAGIC!, I thank Glen Stone for his research into
each inspiring life I selected, finding details that would convey the essence of each
journey in 400 words. I also thank Cathy Reed and Mary W. Walters for editing and
assistance in organizing the biographies. You have significantly improved this book.
Finally, I want to thank three people who believed in and encouraged me as a writer. I
met Dave Kirk at five years of age at Daily Vacation Bible Camp in the summer of 1953,
and he ended up in my grade one class that fall and in every class until grade nine, when I
went to a different school. We were both outsiders and became the closest of friends, and
remained so until his premature death in 2005 from cancer. He was the one person I
shared my journals with throughout my journey, and he repeatedly told me I needed to
write a book.
Two other friends, Gerry Riskin and Mary W. Walters, both published authors and
friends from university in the 1970s, have consistently encouraged me to write a book.
They provided the confidence when mine waned.
Thank you all.