The Hard Way on Purpose (23 page)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I cannot overstate the support, commitment, and tenacity Daniel Greenberg has devoted to this book. He is a friend, a gentleman, and a true guardian.

Brant Rumble's brilliant enthusiasm and editorial harmony can best be summarized thus: He once e-mailed me on his day off (possibly from the zoo) upon random spontaneous realization that I may have misspelled smooth-jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour's name. And he was right.

Many and ongoing thanks as well to Nan Graham, Susan Moldow, Colin Harrison, Lauren Lavelle, Kara Watson, John Glynn, and everyone else at Scribner, and to everyone at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency.

The following people shared generously of their friendship, reading time, guidance, and/or bar tabs: Gina Giffels, John Puglia, Bob Ethington, Chuck Klosterman, Eric Nuzum, Michael Weinreb, Dave Rich, Andrew Borowiec, and Annie Murray. Thank you all.

Norma Hill, librarian at the
Akron Beacon Journal
, responded with deadeye accuracy to countless, often vaguely framed requests for information.

I owe enduring thanks to David Highfill, Lisa Gallagher, and Seale Ballenger at William Morrow for many, many good things. A hearty shout-out as well to my colleagues and students at the University of Akron and the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts creative writing program, particularly Robert Pope, Eric Wasserman, and Mary Biddinger.

If faith is a belief in what you cannot see, then my family has granted me a remarkable gift, responding with patience, understanding, and encouragement as I disappear up a set of stairs and behind a closed door, day after day, year after year. Thank you Gina, Evan, and Lia for this, and all the rest.

Finally, and by no means least, my sincere thanks to the University of Akron Faculty Research Fellowship and the Cleveland Arts Prize for their generous support during the writing of this book.

ALSO BY DAVID GIFFELS

All the Way Home:
Building a Family in a Falling-Down House

Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!
(cowritten with Jade Dellinger)

Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron
(cowritten with Steve Love)

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Copyright © 2014 by David Giffels

Frontispiece courtesy of photographer Billy Delfs

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First Scribner trade paperback edition March 2014

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Interior design by Jill Putorti
Cover design by Rodrigo Corral
Cover photograph © Alan Schein/Getty Images

ISBN 978-1-4516-9274-7
ISBN 978-1-4516-9275-4 (ebook)

“The Lake Effect” was previously published in
Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology.

“Cutting the Mustard” and portions of “Battleground” are reprinted with permission from the
Akron Beacon Journal
and Ohio.com.

“Unreal Estates” will appear (in another form) in
The New Heartland: Looking for the American Dream
by Andrew Borowiec.