PREFACE
   
A backward look at life during the preparation of this book 
has filled my heart with gratitude for the generous encourage-
ment and assistance received from many people whose lives have
touched mine. I am particularly indebted to certain relatives and
friends, and certain business associates, without whom the task
would never have been completed. It is both improper and
impossible to name them all in this space.
  Failure to acknowledge two groups, however, would make
me feel an ingrate and weigh me with such a sense of a debt
unpaid and unmentioned that I must point them out. I hope that
in naming only a limited few I will not be thought to have
slighted the many who are omitted.
  During the final months devoted to this book, my associates,
co-workers, and superiors at the Brass Rail have rendered me
yeoman service in so many ways that I can neither recall them
all nor refrain from this expression of my gratitude to them.
Should I be required to single out one individual, it would be
Robert Gardner, the talented young manager of the unit in
which I am so happily employed. As my immediate superior,
Bob has been, from the very beginning of our association, the
most helpful and co-operative "boss" I have ever known. He has
paid me the constant compliment of crediting me with sufficient
intelligence for him to trust me to discharge my duties with a
minimum of supervision. This has made my work so easy that its
performance has left me with ample energy to meet the demands
of authorship without strain.
  Throughout the years of my tribulations my brother Jake
and his Marguerite have been so generous in their support by