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Acknowledgments

Because this work has been fostered by so many, I feel compelled to acknowledge some of the most important of them: the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota for a summer research grant that allowed me to make much more rapid progress than normally possible; my brother-in-law, Leon, who helped me purchase a home computer without which the numerous revisions, full of “block moves,” would have proved daunting; Anita Kunin for providing me with photocopies of the early manuscript, thereby facilitating my finding my publisher; my women’s writing group for reading and responding to early portions of the first two sections; Chris Gordon, Judy Remington, and Ellie Siegel for reading manuscript drafts and giving me essential editorial suggestions; and my tireless editors—Kathy Casto, who lent clarity and good humor to my work on the original memoir; and Jocelyn Burrell, whose close and demanding reading of the expanded manuscript led me to produce a more trenchant and honest version.

Florence Howe’s expert editorial skills, together with her extraordinary generosity, have challenged and touched me all along the way. I am indebted to my dear friends and colleagues, Shirley Garner and Mimi Sprengnether, not only for their quick and sharp responses to specific sections but more importantly for their unflinching belief in me and in the value of this project.

Finally, I acknowledge my family members—Blue and Slate, our dog and cat, who kept me company many a late night or early morning as I struggled to articulate what memory was offering me; Minna and Sophie, our current and magical cats who sit and chew draft pages to encourage me to keep at it; and Susan Cygnet, my partner, who has helped me learn that intimacy is worth the effort and risk involved, spurring me to voice my ideas and feelings even, or most especially, when I feel reluctant to do so.