Читать книгу Banned in Berlin - Gary D. Stark - Страница 9

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

When I began work on this topic toward the end of the last century, before periodically wandering off down twisting pathways of academic administration, I never imagined it would take so long to complete. It has been a labor of love, but a protracted one. Were it not for the patience (and impatience), prodding, suggestions, inspiration, and support of friends, colleagues, and family, I would be laboring still.

In Germany, Rainer and Rita Jagmann, Robert Brokopp, and Gaby Moll were always welcoming and generous hosts willing to listen tolerantly to tales from the archives. Though they may no longer remember it, at the University of Texas at Arlington my colleagues Don Kyle, Evan Anders, Robert Fairbanks, and Tom Porter read early drafts or encouraged me onward, while the university supported my initial research with grants and summer stipends from the Organized Research Fund. A German Academic Exchange Service Study Visit Grant and National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend made possible additional visits to archives and libraries, while a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship in 1985-1986 underwrote a year of research, reflection, and writing. I was able to complete a major part of the manuscript during a glorious semester as a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, where I benefited from Peter Paret's generous advice and encouragement and from the assistance of the library staff. A sabbatical and travel grants from Grand Valley State University have provided me the time necessary to complete the manuscript. My colleague Jason Crouthamel and the Faculty Writing Group read various chapters and offered valuable suggestions for improving and clarifying them, while the members of the colloquia of the History Department and the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences listened patiently and asked useful questions as I honed my arguments. Elaine Eldridge helped me wrestle some of the more lengthy segments into a more manageable, and readable, form.

Throughout my career Vernon Lidtke has been a most supportive and inspiring mentor. For many years Robert J. Goldstein, Peter Jelavich, Andrew Lees, Charles E. McClelland, and especially Leslie Moch have also followed this project with interest, heartened me when I needed it, read drafts of various chapters, and offered perceptive critiques.

My deepest debt, however, is to my wife Kathleen Underwood and son Karl Underwood Stark, who have lived with this topic nearly as long as I and are as happy as I am to see it completed. Their patience, support, and presence made that possible.