Acknowledgments

Many people have contributed time, talent, and advice to this unique project.

I began by seeking the guidance of some of the giants of freethought, including Jan Loeb Eisler, Dan Barker, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Bobbie Kirkhart, and Margaret Downey. I am grateful for their advice and encouragement, which included help in generating the extraordinary final list of contributors.

Nearly every writer I invited to contribute agreed to do so, always with great enthusiasm, and showed endless patience through the long editorial process. I could not have had a more intelligent and generous group of colleagues for this complex task.

Many thanks to the classiest agent in the business, Dr. Uwe Stender of the TriadaUS Literary Agency, for calmly and expertly guiding the book to a publisher.

Special thanks as well to Christina Parisi of Amacom Books for seeing the value in such a book, for shepherding the manuscript through the publishing process, and for going the extra mile during that process to enhance her understanding of parenting issues by giving birth.

I am grateful to Paula Wagener Lutz, John Pellegrini, and Becca McGowan for input and advice that significantly improved the manuscript prior to publication.

My deepest thanks go to the four people who made this book possible by making me a father: Becca, my wife and dearest friend, and Erin, Delaney, and Connor, our three cool and amazing kids.