Читать книгу Sanctifying Art - Deborah Sokolove - Страница 6

There are so many people to thank for the existence of this book that noting them all would take another volume of equal size. However, there are a few people deserving of special thanks, beginning with John Morris, whose careful reading and rereading have made this a better book; Denise Domkowski Hopkins, who read early drafts of the first few chapters and cheered me on through the rewrites; and Kendall Soulen, who disagreed with my conclusions about beauty but encouraged me to keep writing. Thanks also to Peggy Parker and to Ginger Geyer, with each of whom I have shared much laughter about our lives as artists sojourning among theologians and who have both been urging me to write for as long as I have been a member of this odd fellowship of artists in theology-land. I am grateful for Wilson Yates, Robin Jensen, Don Saliers, Frank Burch Brown, and the many others who have given so much of their lives to exploring the intersection of theology and the arts, and who have taught me and befriended me as a latecomer to their company. I am particularly grateful to Carole Grunberg and the late Kate Cudlipp, who gave me a place to stay where I could hear the ocean as I began the writing; to the members of my mission groups and many other members of Seekers Church, who have been praying for this project all along the way; and to my faculty colleagues in the Monday lunchtime prayer group, who soothed my fears and worries with wisdom gained from their own experiences as writers. Thanks also to research librarian James Estes, whose divine calling was repeatedly affirmed as he pointed me in the right direction in my quests for century-old journals and other obscure materials; to Bruce Birch, who introduced me to the ways of theological education and continues to mentor and encourage me; to Catherine Kapikian, without whose vision and energy the Center for the Arts and Religion at Wesley Theological Seminary would not exist; to Amy Gray, Alexandra Sherman, and Trudi Ludwig Johnson, who made sure that everything was running smoothly in the Center office even when I was too distracted to notice; and to our graduate assistant, Vanya Mullinax, who checked quotations and footnotes and asked good questions. Most of all, I thank my husband, Glen Yakushiji, who not only finds extra spaces and missing commas and points out when I’ve lapsed into incomprehensible jargon, but also brings me sandwiches when I forget to eat and invites me on bike rides when I’ve been at the computer too long; and my grown-up children, who have little interest in this subject but seem to be proud of me anyway. To everyone else who is equally deserving of thanks but whom I have neglected to note, please accept my apologies and silent gratitude. It takes a community to write a book.