First of all, I want to thank Carole McClendon, my agent, for thinking of me as the perfect author for this book and for her guidance throughout the process.

Thanks go to my excellent Project Editor, Blair Pottenger, for his suggestions and advice; to Acquisitions Editor Kyle Looper for many productive and enjoyable discussions; to Senior Copy Editor Teresa Artman and Copy Editor Heidi Unger for their timely and helpful comments and corrections, to Technical Editor Dennis Cohen for his insight and editing skill, and to the entire Wiley Publishing production team for their professionalism.

Finally, I want to thank all the nuns (many of them posthumously) at Bellarmine-Jefferson High School who taught me the love of art and writing that I've built on throughout my life and who gave me an appreciation for the fact that learning is a lifetime occupation.