Читать книгу Fire in the Big House - Mitchel P. Roth - Страница 8

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book had a rather long gestation period, during which I wrote four other books as I continued to research Fire in the Big House. I am indebted to a number of individuals for their research assistance on the project over the years. Several of my teaching assistants helped find articles and teach me the intricacies of the Excel spreadsheet. I especially want to thank (now) Dr. Robin Jackson, who helped organize the appendix detailing the backgrounds of the victims of the fire. Duncan McCallum and Kathryn Perez have contributed at one time or another as well. I thank you for your assistance. While conducting research in Columbus, archivists at the Public Library and the Ohio History Center were particularly helpful. Lily Berkhimer at the OHC was especially helpful in reproducing images for the book.

Having written numerous books for a variety of presses over the years, I can say that the Ohio University Press has made this journey from prospectus to book as stress-free as writing a book and going through the review process can be. I would like to thank the three reviewers for their helpful suggestions that made this a much better book than it would otherwise have been.

At the Ohio University Press, acquisitions editor Rick Huard played a seminal role in bringing the book to print. I would also like to thank director Gill Berchowitz for bringing my prospectus to Rick’s attention for ultimately approving its publication. Sally Welch deserves a shout-out as well for shepherding the manuscript to publication.

Finally, I would like to thank several Columbus prison historians whose work has been played an important role in contextualizing the fire within the larger history of the Ohio penal system. James Dailey III and his archival collection were always there when I had a confounding question. I would like to thank David Meyers for his contributions as well. I also cannot adequately thank enough Texas penal expert Professor Chad Trulson for reading each chapter and sending back thoughtful analysis. I also want to thank the imaginative Sam Kuzel for creating a map of the Ohio Penitentiary at the time of the fire.

Last but not least, I want to thank my wife, Ines, and son, Eric for their support of my many book projects. I am especially grateful that my mom, Leila, was able to accompany me on a road trip from Annapolis to Columbus, where I conducted research for a week. I don’t think I would have ever written a book or fallen under the spell of the printed word if not for her weekly outings to the Annapolis public library as a wee lad. I love you all.