Special Thanks

Dedication

To my three favorite teachers: Cathey Weigel and Leon Schram at Berkner High School and Linda Robbins at Apollo Junior High School in Richardson, Texas. I always missed 17 days a semester (the maximum number of absences before a student would be held back), but on the days I was in class, you were such a genuine inspiration to me that I felt like a character in an ABC Afterschool Special. Looking back, I wish I had spent a little more time in school and a little less time watching All My Children, General Hospital, and Ryan's Hope.

-- Rogers

Acknowledgements

To the folks at Sams -- especially Mark Taber, Scott Meyers, Susan Hobbs, Dawn Pearson, and Dallas G. Releford. No author can produce a book like this on his own, regardless of what my agent told Sams during contract negotiations. Their excellent work will give me plenty to take credit for later on.

To my agents, David and Sherry Rogelberg, who helped me hide from all the people in the preceding paragraph during a critical period when the Prom Boat sank on Passions.

To my wife, M.C., and my sons, Max and Eli. Although our family has not fulfilled my dream of becoming a high-wire trapeze team like the Flying Wallendas, I'm the world's proudest husband in a non-acrobatic family.

Reader Acknowledgements

I'd also like to thank readers who have sent helpful comments about corrections, typos, and suggested improvements to the book. The list includes Brian Converse, Wallace Edwards, Kevin Foad, Adam Grigsby, Mark Hardy, Russel Loski, Jim Yates and many others who shall remain nameless, because many people helped me improve the book before I started this list.