the author can be contacted at hankalawson @ gmail.com dedication to my parents audrey merle lawson and henry dzierzawski acknowledgements to prof. richard bankowsky ; freelance editors including sarah cypher ; fran and cary spiker who read the book when it was unreadable , yet offered invaluable feedback ; pamela trokanski who sat side by side with me for many weeks as i recited the novel and who , with patience , humor and intelligence , gave me perhaps the best feedback of all ; and annette zumba , my biggest fan , whose insight and ideas as well as words found a place in the landscape of this book , i offer my gratitude .