Georgetown University has been home to my teaching life for going on twenty-five years. Dean of Georgetown College Chester “Chet” Gillis has shown a commitment to journalism, to our students, and to my efforts like no one else at the university. I am indebted to him for his leadership, generosity of spirit, and unwavering support.
Thanks to Andrew Wallender, star journalism student and amazing program assistant; to Jamie Slater, his magnificent predecessor; and to our program manager Leslie Byers, who does the work of three people at Georgetown.
Georgetown has been more than a place where I make my living; it is also where I have made some of my dearest friends. Maureen Corrigan tops that list. Coteaching “Washington Confidential” has been among the highlights of my teaching career. I have learned so much from her—about books and friendship equally. Her wisdom is infinite. Her cucumber gimlets aren’t bad either.
Thanks to David Gewanter, who regularly lends me his shoulder, ear, and wit. To Joy Young, for her steely-eyed honesty and her strong spirit. To Denise Brennan and Doug Reed, for their friendship and for the campfire atmosphere they created, where they encouraged me to tell my stories: May the future hold many more gatherings. To Marybeth McMahon, for listening and encouraging. Gratitude to Rich Yeselson, who at one of these campfires posed a tough but important question and then, when the time came, reassured me I had adequately addressed it. His keen political observations and gentle friendship mean a great deal.
To Aminatta Forna, who shared insight into the memoir process, usually over good wine, great food, and lots of laughs, and to her warm and wonderful husband, Simon Westcott, and their precious Mo, who sees me the way I wish the universe did.
To Carolyn Forché, John Pfordresher, Duncan Wu, Tad Howard, Sanford “Sandy” Ungar, Martha Warner, Maria Donoghue, Penn Szittya, Leona Fisher, John Glavin, John Hirsh, Mike Collins, David Lipscomb, Donna Even-Kesef, Jessica Williams, Jackie Buchy, Ted Gup, Evelyn Small, Liz Kastor, Ann Oldenburg, Garrett Graff, Ellen Edwards Villa, Athelia Knight, Carol Leggett, and Jeff Himmelman.
To Debra Levi Holtz, Barbara Wulff, Judy Hofflund, Katherine Gekker, Mariah Burton Nelson, Sharon Rogers, Monty Tripp, and Don Wolfensberger.
Thank you to Tom Hansen and Tom Ferber.
When students grow up, sometimes they remain in a professor’s life and not just because they want a letter of recommendation; I am so lucky that has happened to me: Erin Delmore, TM Gibbons-Neff, Alex Horton, Elaina Koros, Mona Mouallem, JC Sites, and Darona Williams. They all make me so proud.
Thank you to Kitty Eisele, for being there just about longer than anyone else except for those bound by blood or law.
Speaking of blood or law: my sister, Judy Wall, and her husband, Rick Wall, have always supported me. They have lived this book in real time and then submitted to reliving it as its most frequent readers throughout the editing process. Who knew a wood sculptor and a tax attorney could be such great sounding boards? Thanks and love also to my brother, David, and his wife, Jan, and to my niece, Ryan, and my nephews, Michael, Danny, and Jake. And to my father, in his mid-nineties, who passed on a deep love of writing and literature. I wish my mother were still alive to read this book. She taught me to stand up for myself. I’m a slow learner.
Thank you to my husband, Dennis Todd: my best reader, my best friend, and my best everything.
Every Washington writer needs these two things in her survival kit: a dog as loyal and sweet as Nikki and a faraway place to escape to. How lucky we are to have Illa, Jim, and the Maui clan. Soon, please?
About the Author
Barbara Feinman Todd is the founding Journalism Director at Georgetown University, where she teaches in the English Department. Cofounder of the Pearl Project, she coauthored the e-book The Truth Left Behind: Inside the Kidnapping and Murder of Daniel Pearl. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Glamour, the Huffington Post, the Daily Beast, Newsweek, and on NPR. She lives just outside of Washington, D.C.
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Credits
Cover illustration © Ellegant/Shutterstock
Copyright
pretend i’m not here. Copyright © 2017 by Barbara Feinman Todd. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
first edition
Digital Edition FEBRUARY 2017 ISBN: 9780062445117
Print ISBN: 9780062445100
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