Many friends and family members have offered help and support for Heart.  I am eternally grateful.  I thank Mara Hart of Lake Superior Writers for her encouragement, wisdom and editorial talents.  My husband, Ethan Perry, was the first to lay eyes on each and every draft and provided valuable editorial assistance - not to mention filling in memory gaps for all that happened in Panama.  Jill Hinners (Lake Superior Writers) and Linda Bowdoin were early readers of the proposal.  Linda also reviewed several chapters of Heart as it took shape over the years (Thanks, Ma!).  Matt Kania (maphero.com) generously provided the maps. Wendy Call gave advice through the lens of a friendship spanning four decades, as well as superb editorial assistance. Jim Perlman of Holy Cow! Press gave me early advice about how to stay on track, pointing out that if I wanted to publish a book I should probably publish some stories first. I thank Milan Kovacovic for the inspiration by example, and for being so generous as to read the manuscript in a time of extreme need. I also thank him for dispensing cookies to my five-year-old, without which our visit might have been disastrous. My childhood friend, Claire Lewis Evans opened the door for me at critical junctures of this life-long project (at ages 12, 22, and 42!). I am grateful to the editorial staff at the University of Alabama Press, particularly Elizabeth Motherwell, for giving Heart a home.