The People We Keep(111)

Deborah Schneider, I spent so long hoping to find an agent like you, and getting to work with you is even better than I’d hoped. Thank you for seeing me. Thank you for understanding April, and always honoring how much this work means to me. Cathy Gleason, I appreciate your kindness and all of the guidance and wisdom you’ve shared with me. Thank you also to Penelope Burns and everyone at Gelfman/Schneider ICM. I’d also like to thank Joe Veltre, Katy McCaffrey, Davina Hefflin, Tori Eskue, and Kaitlyn Berry at The Gersh Agency. Thank you to Eric S. Brown at Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo for being so careful and so lovely.

Thank you, Ingrid Serban for bringing your music to my words, and your sweet brilliant spirit to my life. Now I know that love at first sight works for friendship too.

Caroline Angell, you relit the pilot light on my creative spirit so many times in my journey with this book. Thank you for believing in me and my work. I don’t know what I’d do without you and your fierce, gorgeous heart.

Cassandra Dunn, one of the best parts of my life is knowing that whenever I’m stuck in my writing or anything else, I get to hike it all out with you. I am always astounded by the depth and breadth of your perspective and compassion. Thank you for putting in all those miles with me.

Thank you, Ann Mah, for the many, many ways you’ve helped me get here and for the joy of being your friend.

Regina Marler and Renee Swindle, I am dreaming of the long breakfast we will have in the future, and so thankful for all of the kindness, understanding, and confidence you’ve given me over our breakfasts in days past.

Bruce Holsinger, your belief in this book changed me on a cellular level, and I am so grateful.

Michele Larkin, thank you for all the times you’ve picked me up, bolstered my courage, and understood where I’m coming from. It’s such wonderful luck to be in your family.

Thank you to everyone who read drafts and shared your hearts with me, including Therese Walsh, Brenda Kirkwood, Julia Whelan, Brantley Aufill, Rainbow Rowell, Michelle Rubinstein, Cullen Douglas, Dash Hegeman, Melanie Krebs, Sarah Playtis, Neil Gordon, Ben Jackson, Julie Smith, Erica Curtis, Liz Valentine, Evan Dawson, Keith Pedzich, Jennifer Deville Catalano, Julia Claiborne Johnson, and Brunonia Barry. And, of course, Joan Pedzich, who understood the power of kind words to an orphaned soul and talked with me about April as if she were a dear girl we both knew.

Special thanks to Therese Fowler, Jan O’Hara, Sarah Callendar, Jeanne Kisacky, Barbara O’Neal, and Greer McAllister for those beautiful Ithaca moments. Thank you to Jack Hrkach and all the teachers and friends who made Ithaca the place where I started.

Katherine Frances Billingsley, my darling Evergreen! What a joy it was to grow up being weirdly creative with you and to still be yes anding our friendship after all these years.

Thank you to Julie Buxbaum, Amy Franklin-Willis, Ann Marie Nieves, Matthew Andreoli, Savannah Butler, Emmett Tucker, Elizabeth Roberts, and Nikki DeLoach. Whether you know it or not, you’ve come along with the right words of encouragement exactly when I needed them. I appreciate your kindness and perspective so much. Thank you, Ania Szado, for saving me with research! Thank you to Angela Terry, Carrie Medders, and Patrice Hall for helping me feel like I belong by this bay.

Thank you again and always to Linda and Roger Bryant, and the wonderful folks of the Titles Over Tea book group, who have taught me so much about what it means to be a reader. Thank you to the members of The Fiction Writers Coop, WOMBA, and my friends at Untitled, for sharing all the textures of what it means to be a writer.

Thank you to John Cuk, Marty Heresniak, Jan Callner, Joseph Ilardo, Jonathan Klein, Brian Maillard, and Daniel Holabaugh for bringing music into my life. And a huge thank you to Ken Wilcox for being the best darn guitar teacher.

To my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram friends, and all the readers who have reached out to me, it is one of the greatest honors of my life to be understood by you and to know we have such kindred spirits. Thank you for chiming in with answers to my weirdo research questions and letting me know you were hoping for another book.

In 1997, I saw Peter Mulvey play at Ithaca College, and since then, most of the music I listen to is in some way related to his beautiful slice of the folk world. Steadily and with great empathy, he carries on the tradition of being a folksinger, and by following his work and the way he navigates the world, I’ve learned a great deal about the kind of creative person I want to be. I have also been greatly inspired by Chris Pureka, who writes the most wise and beautiful songs I’ve ever heard, and whose lyrics helped me navigate my intentions for this work.

The soundtrack to this book and this phase of my life has been full of Mark Erelli, Kris Delmhorst, Jeffrey Foucault, David Goodrich, Tracy Chapman, Dar Williams, The Waterboys, R.E.M., Counting Crows, Indigo Girls, Steve Earle, Glen Phillips, Meg Hutchinson, Gordon Lightfoot, Arlo Guthrie, Carole King, James Taylor, Yusef Islam, and (of course) Bob Dylan. I am so grateful for their brilliant work.

It is very hard to write this part because I don’t know that my dear old friend Stella will still be here when this book comes out, but she has been with me while I wrote it, snoring at my feet for twelve years of this journey. Everyone should have such a steadfast friend. I have loved every moment of her.

Jeremy Larkin, I freaking love you. You’ve lived with this book as long as I have and believed in me in times when I forgot to. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for making me laugh. Thank you for dancing. What a great adventure we’ve been on this far. I’m so glad to be home with you.