Читать книгу One Game at a Time - Matt Hern - Страница 4

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A lot of people are going to be relieved I finally got this book written. I have been cornering friends and family (and lots people who don’t fit into either category) and hitting them with this stuff for a long time now. I’ve test-run, reconsidered, and revised this argument over many years: sometimes lucidly, sometimes less so, sometimes soberly, sometimes drunkenly, sometimes passionately, sometimes irrationally, and often at tiresome length. So to all of you who have endured and engaged me, thanks so much for your tolerance and generosity.

Parts of this book were published in The Tyee, Vancouver Magazine, Left Hook Journal, and Z Magazine, so thanks to all for allowing me more formal chances to get valuable feedback.

More specifically though a number of people have given me really useful and smart input on this text: Geoff Mann, Richard Lawley, Jillian Dheri, Riley Hern, Kelsey Blair, Selena Couture, Dan Grego, Isaac Oommen, Chuck Morse, and Sarah Kendall all provided terrific critiques and responses. You guys will hear some of yourselves in here I am sure.

None were more helpful, though, than the indomitable Kate Khatib, my editor at AK Press who was supportive and scathing in just the right doses and pushed this book into far better territory.

Much love and respect for the mighty Caffé Roma Sports Bar where much of this book was written.

My deepest gratitude, as always, is owed to my families: my island family, especially Adele, Gan and Sean, and to all my East Van family, most especially Selena, Sadie, and Daisy (and Diana, Ashley, Keith, et al.) for listening so often and so patiently, for sitting through endless recaps of games, watching inane internet clips, abiding my distractions, and nursing me through my (many) injuries. They have asked about the sports I love, cheered when I cheer, sympathized when I have been beaten, allowed me to bask in my victories, acknowledged my heartbreaks, and watched so many games with me. They have cared because I care, which is as loving as I could ever ask.

And of course, more than anyone, this book is for my father, Riley Hern. His inexhaustible love for tennis, the Canucks, and for sporting events of all kinds has been matched by his lifelong patience and kindness towards all children as they learned to play under his watch. He was in my head always as I wrote this and I can only hope that a little bit of his sweet and generous heart shines through.