Down Around Midnight (27 page)

In the half a lifetime that had passed, it was a question I sometimes asked myself.

Yes, I told him. The girl and everything. Just like they tell it in the story.

“Once upon a time,” I said.

I could not have written this book without the cooperation of the numerous people whose names appear in its pages. I thank them for their generosity and for the time and effort they dedicated to helping me tell the story, with special thanks to the members of my family and to those survivors of the crash who came forward to help me reconstruct the incident and the events surrounding it. My fellow survivors, in leading me to an understanding of its aftermath, were as courageous in sharing their personal stories as they were in risking their lives to save others on the night of the tragedy. I am especially grateful to Suzanne Mourad. Her unqualified offer of help at the outset made the undertaking possible, and her advice and encouragement along the way were instrumental in my following the story to the end. For their cooperation, their support, their help in the preparation of the manuscript, or for other personal and professional contributions to the success of the project, I am indebted to: Jessica Almon, Alan Bowles, Marjorie Braman, Jamie Byng, Beverly Callistini, Patrick Cavanaugh, Norma Holmes, Gip Hoppe, John Kalell, Robert LaPointe, Russ Maguire, Jay Mandel, Marianne McCaffery, Anjali Mecklai, Tim Miller, Sara Nelson, Elizabeth Parker, Ed Ramey, Eric Rayman, Jim Regan, Sandie Riley, Jamie Saul, Elizabeth Sheinkman, Randall Sherman, Danny Silverman, Gary Stimeling, Susan Stinson, Steve Sullivan, and Charles M. Young. Special acknowledgment for their efforts is due Vincent Amicosante, who showed up at the game early and stayed late, and tireless Philip Richardson, who, in typical fashion, played his best hand when the stakes got really interesting.

 

 

This book in all the important ways really belongs to Jennifer Walsh. She has been steering me in its direction for more than a decade. I didn't know I needed to tell the story until she made it impossible not to. Her belief in it and her patience were an expression of a belief in me that, from the day she agreed to represent me, has motivated my belief in myself, and this book, more than any other, was her way of making me prove it. Among the blessings she conferred on the book was her placing it in the hands of as fine an editor as a writer could hope to work with. I have been fortunate to collaborate with many excellent editors over the years; if my luck holds out, there will be others, and all of them will be Wendy Wolf. Writing a book is difficult under the best of conditions. Writing a book like this one is like writing every word in the dark. The only thing more extravagant than the degree to which she improved it is the manner in which she made every aspect of bringing it to light enjoyable. Delivering the book would have been a more daunting and far more doubtful prospect were it not for the help of Jeff Blanchard, the one friend I trusted to read the manuscript in the course of its being written. As talented an editor as he is a writer and reporter, he was a consistent source of enthusiasm, wisdom and professional guidance. He followed the progress of the book from its inception, always there to push it in the right direction, inexhaustible in providing advice on how to push it further. Were it not for Patricia Riley, to whom this book is dedicated, there would have been little to dignify the effort.