AMERICAN PAIN (50 page)

I owe a great deal to everyone listed in the “Sources” section for lending me their time and knowledge. Special thanks to the following: Alice Mason is one of the most inspiring and courageous people I have ever interviewed. I greatly appreciate her letting me trespass repeatedly on her beautiful farm. Jennifer Turner and Kurt McKenzie spent many hours explaining the FBI investigation of American Pain. Gaining FBI approval for the interviews was a challenge because Dr. Cynthia Cadet’s case was still in appeals. But the special agents made the interviews happen because they wanted the story to be known. And so did Derik Nolan, who spent many months answering my endless questions. He witnessed more of the day-to-day operation of American Pain than anyone else, including Chris George. I appreciate Derik’s willingness to tell the story and the effort he put into remembering and making sense of it.

As dean of the WVU Reed College of Media, Maryanne Reed has always championed my work and once again helped me find the time and resources to pursue this story. Most crucially, she supported my application for a sabbatical in 2013, and that break gave me time to focus exclusively on understanding the opioid epidemic and the case of American Pain. As my friend, she read drafts at different points and provided her usual excellent notes.

A warm thanks to James Jayo, formerly of Lyons Press, and Joelle Delbourgo of Joelle Delbourgo Associates, for backing the book. The same to Keith Wallman of Lyons Press, whose enthusiasm and thorough edits helped so much in the homestretch. Special gratitude to Shari Smiley of the Gotham Group and to Melisa Wallack, for recognizing the potential and significance of this story.

And none of them would have seen it if it wasn’t for Jacqueline Flynn of Joelle Delbourgo Associates, whose cheerful intelligence guided the book from almost the very beginning of the reporting process. Thanks for encouraging me to pursue this story and for always returning my calls!

To my parents, Dan and Loranne Temple, for always being curious about and supportive of my work. To my boys, Gideon and Hank, for reminding me how sweet life can be. And most of all, to my wonderful wife, Hollee Schwartz Temple. You listened so thoughtfully as I rambled for untold hours about my latest problems with this story (even if I did sometimes look over to find you “resting your eyes”). You’re a hell of an editor, and I promise not to forget that next time around. Thanks for all the times when I was debating whether I should take another trip to Florida or Kentucky or Louisiana, and you said, simply, “Go.”

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

John Temple grew up in Chicago, Louisiana, and Pittsburgh. He has worked as a newspaper reporter in Pittsburgh, North Carolina, and Tampa.

Temple is the author of two previous nonfiction books:
The Last Lawyer: The Fight to Save Death Row Inmates
(2009) and
Deadhouse: Life in a Coroner’s Office
(2005). In 2010,
The Last Lawyer
won the Scribes Book Award from the American Society of Legal Writers. More information about Temple’s books can be found at
www.johntemplebooks.com
.

Temple is an associate professor of journalism at the West Virginia University Reed College of Media. He lives in Morgantown, West Virginia, with his wife, Hollee Schwartz Temple, and their two boys.