The Widow of the South (40 page)
While my list of acknowledgments is long, it will never be complete. There are so many folks who told me stories and opened windows to the past; who supported, rallied, and encouraged me through this process. That said, I would truly be amiss if I didn’t thank the following:
My parents, both gone now, are the foundation of it all. My dad was filled with stories—about growing up in the South a century ago, a place with one foot in the past and one foot in the present. Though the Civil War had been over for forty years when he arrived, so much of it, both good and bad, permeated the world in which he grew up. That fading world was passed on to us with his stories. I will forever remember my mother, while not near the storyteller, for her overwhelming capacity to love, and for her wisdom and the belief—which she shared with my dad—that all things are possible.
Then there is my brother, Marcus Sanders, and his wife, Candy Allen, who continue to remind me, through their own passion for life, how very lucky I am to call them my family.
That first conversation with Jeff Kleinman, my agent, was probably the single most important event in the process that led me here. Under his care, every step of the way, a story came to life as he reeled me in again and again.
I was fortunate to find an extraordinary freelance editor in Duncan Murrell, without whose creativity and vision this idea would never have gone very far, and without whose hard work and insight this book would never have been finished. What he does is an art, and as I and many other authors will attest, he is one of that art’s finest practitioners. He gave me the confidence that I really could be a writer.
Then there are the amazing folks at Warner Books, who believed in this book when it was little more than a handful of pages and a very big dream. First and foremost Amy Einhorn, editor extraordinaire, for working so very hard with such amazing sensitivity, honesty, and care. Any author would be so lucky to have her bringing all the pieces together. I feel as if I won the lottery with Amy. Todd Doughty is simply, without a doubt, the very best publicist anyone could ever ask for. And thanks are of course due to Jamie Raab, Larry Kirshbaum, Maureen Egen, Emi Battaglia, Ivan Held, Martha Otis, Karen Torres, Bob Castillo, Rebecca Oliver, Nancy Wiese, Bruce Paonessa, Anne Twomey, Tom Whatley, Harvey-Jane Kowal, Ann Schwartz, Huy Duong, Toni Marotta, Blanca Aulet, Flamur Tonuzi, Oscar Stern, Janice Wilkins, Brad Negbaur, and, last but not least, Jim Schiff. Special thanks are also extended to Giorgetta and Leo McRee, who designed the book.
Hunter Kay, my business partner on the project, amazingly, against all odds and despite the pitfalls of any working partnership, has remained my friend through the years.
Kay and Curt Jones and Caroline and George Ducas literally supported me toward the end as I pushed to the finish. Without their help, I would have been lost.
Justin Stelter—a sounding board, my hardest critic, a good friend, a supporter of all good things, a young writer in the making.
Mary Springs and Stephane Couteaud, Hazel Smith, Constance and Gordon Gee.
Pete Donaldson and Jay Sanders.
My good friend Rick Warwick and all the other real historians and scholars who tried their darnedest to keep me on track. I would be completely amiss if I didn’t mention our beloved county historian, Virginia McDaniel Bowman; James Redford, Gail Winkler and Roger Moss, Angela Calhoun, Margie Thessin, Lee Miller, and all the folks at Carnton, Paul McCoy, David Fraley, Ed Bearss, Wiley Sword, Carroll Van West, and James Lee McDonough, who first told me the story of the Battle of Franklin some thirty-five years ago.
Then there is Thomas Cartwright. With regard to the Battle of Franklin, there has never been anyone who has ever touched me with more passion than Thomas. He has been my resource for understanding and detail, again and again. Luckily for me, he is a friend.
The McGavock family—Kay and Roderick Heller, Mary and Winder Heller, and Patty and Hanes Heller, friends and encouragers of the book, battlefield recoverers at Franklin, Carnton, and so much more—and all the rest of their tribe.
My fellow travelers in Franklin’s Charge, some of whom have been with me from that very first spring day on the back porch at Carnton when I laid out a pipe dream of preserving those last fragments of the battlefield. Through your tireless efforts, that pipe dream has been given life: Danny Anderson, Ernie Bacon, Warner Bass, Julian Bibb, Dorie Bolze, Mary and Hank Brockman, Angela Calhoun, Jim Campi, Thomas Cartwright, Amy Grant and Vince Gill, Sam Huffman, Rudy and Peter Jordan, Jim Lighthizer and everyone at CWPT, Stacey McRight, Tommy Murdic, Jeanie Nelson, George Patton, Mary Pearce, Damon Rogers, Cindy Sargent, and Joe Smyth. Future generations may well forget all that you have done for them, but your good work will go before you. If we really are eternal, as we’ve been taught, please know that you have my eternal thanks.
The loved ones who were ignored and stood by as I ate up their time with Jeff (Pete Verloop and Corinne), Duncan (Sherri and Caroline), and Amy (Matt, Ashley Rae, and Tess).
And, finally, there are Catherine Anderson, Michel Arnaud, Michael Balliet, Bo Bills, John Bohlinger, Gertrude and Ben Caldwell, Dub Cornet, P.J. Dempsey, L.D., Steve Emley, Diana and Gary Fisketjon, Valerie Ellis Fleming, Andrew Glasgow, Rob Hodge, Linda and Doug Howard, Chad Huie, Monte Isom, Jay Jones, Eric Levin, Evan Lowenstein, Mary Ruth Martin, Matt McGregor, T.M., Dave Pelton, Tommy Peters, Ellen Pryor, Charles Salzberg, Tamara Saviano, Michael Sherrill, Toby Standefer, Lynn and Ghislain Vander Elst, and Tim Young. Your care, wisdom, and encouragement over the years are not forgotten.