Remember Ben Clayton (39 page)

AUTHOR’S NOTE

F
rancis Gilheaney is a fictional character, so of course all the statues credited to him in this book are fictional as well. But I would like to acknowledge that the initial idea for
Remember Ben Clayton
came from reading
From Dawn to Sunset
, the autobiography of the sculptor Pompeo Coppini, who undertook a commission similar to the one described in this novel, and whose finished work, an affecting statue of a young man named Charles Noyes, stands today in the courthouse square of Ballinger, Texas.

It is always a privilege to thank the people whose generosity with factual information or critical judgment helps to make my work possible. In the case of this novel, it is the usual long list, beginning at home in Austin with my wife Sue Ellen and extending to New York, where I have long had the honor of being represented by Esther Newberg and edited by Ann Close. I’m continually grateful to them and to all their colleagues at ICM and at Alfred A. Knopf and Random House.

Elizabeth Crook’s sustaining insight proved, as usual, to be a crucial factor in helping me navigate my way through a complex story. I am also especially grateful to the late Elmer Kelton, who supplied me with details from his own memory of ranching life in Texas during the early part of the twentieth century.

Thanks also to Lawrence Wright, William Broyles, Jr., Gregory Curtis, and James Magnuson; to sculptors Patrick Oliphant, Neil Estern, Clete Shields, Glenna Goodacre, and Jason Scull. And to Alan Huffines, Enrique Villarreal, Tony Noyes, Christina Holstein, Steven D. Dortch, Michael Hanlon, Eleanor Crook, Betsy Tyson, Barbara Tims, Ann Mount, Laura Lewis, Martin Cox, Kevin Griffin, John Emery, Rich Turnwald, Jodi Wright-Gidley, Mireille Golaszewski, Isabelle Secretan, and Gisèle Dessieux. And since a father-daughter relationship is central to this novel, I can’t end this list without a loving acknowledgment of all that I have learned from my own three daughters, Marjorie, Dorothy, and Charlotte.

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen Harrigan is the author of seven previous books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novels
Challenger Park
and the
New York Times
best seller
The Gates of the Alamo
. A longtime writer for
Texas Monthly
and other magazines, he is also an award-winning screenwriter who has written many movies for television. He lives in Austin, where he is a faculty fellow at the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas and a founding member of Capital Area Statues, Inc.