by Rinker Buck
Laura Richardson of the Miratsky-Easton funeral home in Powell, Wyoming, is every bit the warm and caring person described in my pages. Adi Arad was particularly insightful and a joy to meet. The residents and store owners of Powell were also extremely helpful. Professors Guy Toubiana and Christopher McRae and the administrative staff of The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, made my visit to that historic institution a treat. I was also fortunate to have interviewed Barbara Blatchley of Agnes Scott College in Georgia, a professor of psychology, whose insight into Shane Childers was brilliant and useful.
No one who has read Shane Comes Home can doubt my debt of gratitude to Captain Kevin Hutchison. Together we visited the bars and restaurants of Billings, argued decorating points in his house, and then hiked and toured Montana, sitting beside the Tongue River on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, endlessly debriefing the Childers CACO. These extensive interviews allowed the detailed descriptions of his thoughts and reflections as the narrative progressed. When writing about the modern military, too many journalists default to macho stereotypes and pat conclusions about the motivations of soldiers. In fact, officers of Hutchison’s sensitivity and depth are quite common in all branches of the armed services today, and I was delighted through him to be able to provide a more subtle and honest portrait of the character type. Hutchison’s mother and stepfather, Nancy and Donovan Black, were also wonderfully helpful.
First Sergeant Barry Morgan tolerates reporters in the same way that he tolerates college graduates and motor scooters—they’re just something that the world came up with and that he has to endure. Nevertheless, he bluntly answered all of my questions. He is particularly knowledgeable about Marine Corps rules and regulations.
Writer Hampton Sides graciously allowed me to borrow details about Shane Childers’ last hours in Iraq from his excellent article in the December 2003 issue of Men’s Journal. A fuller version of the piece is included in Sides’ latest collection of essays, Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier. I would also like to thank my daughter Sara, who accompanied me on portions of my research trip to Montana and Wyoming, including a long trail ride with Joe Childers in his covered wagon. She is quite expert outdoors and a competent cook already, and she always kept our camp running on time while patiently listening to Joe’s tales.
Brian Toolan, the editor of the Hartford Courant, is a provocative source of story concepts who fiercely protects the need for his writers to tell their stories in their own way. It was his idea that I travel to Wyoming to follow the drama of a family waiting for their son’s body to return from Iraq, and he expertly followed up with advice on completing the piece. Managing editor Cliff Teutsch adroitly handled all of my problems on the road, and Jan Spiegel is great at handling details. Candy Araujo and Cathy Leroy always deserve special thanks. News editor Bernie Davidow has been very understanding as I worked to complete this book. All I can say about Barbara Roessner, who edited my final Shane Childers piece with her usual smarts and élan, is that every time I work with her I wish that I was born a girl.
Sloan Harris, my agent at ICM, puts up with me and persisted with a project long after other agents would have given up, and Katharine Cluverius is a joy to work with. Henry Ferris and Peter Hubbard at William Morrow/HarperCollins have been exceptionally cooperative and pleasant. I particularly appreciate Henry’s rare blend of patience and sensibility with a manuscript, not to mention his vision of what this story could be. It’s rare and quite rewarding to work with an editor with such a refined sense of narrative.
A number of family members and friends need to be thanked as well, because they both draw me out of my isolation and goad me on while I am obsessed with a project. They include all of the members of my family, but especially my perceptive and wise sister, McNamara Buck-Rome. Others who have been attentive during this time include Roger Linscott, Michael Moschen, Sue Geller, Michael Lee, Bill Carmean and Nancy Ross, Judy and Richard Davies, Geoff and Kathy Marchant, Will and Martha Agate, Danielle Mailer, Cathrine de Neergaard, William F. de Neergaard, Daniel Fetterman, Michelle Danoff, Cindy Kirk, Suzanne McAllister, Dorothy Cochrane and Caroline Sheen, George and Cindy Rousseau, and John and Suzanne Stephan and their insane Oshkosh flying group. Patty Wagstaff’s insight and support has been particularly welcome.
Diane Blick and Rhonda Bezio of the Business Center of Litchfield keep me honest and running on time. Walt Dethier of the Berkshire Country Store is the world’s most lovable redneck.
Words cannot convey how much I appreciate the love and patience of my wife, Amelia. My daughters, Sara and Charlotte, rescue me every day with their sarcasm gene.
About the Author
RINKER BUCK is a staff writer for the Hartford Courant and a former reporter for New York magazine, Life, and many other national publications. The article that launched this book won the Eugene S. Pulliam National Journalism Writing Award and the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award. He is the author of the acclaimed Flight of Passage and First Job and lives in northwest Connecticut.
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ALSO BY RINKER BUCK
Flight of Passage: A Memoir
First Job: A Memoir of Growing Up at Work
Copyright
SHANE COMES HOME. Copyright © 2005 by Rinker Buck. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © JANUARY 2007 ISBN: 9780061873676
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