Dan Charles - Lords of the Harvest

This book demanded resources far beyond what I alone could bring, and Im grateful for the goodwill and generosity of those who made it possible.

My agent, Katinka Matson of Brockman, Inc., saw promise in a half-formed idea. Amanda Cook and her colleagues at Perseus Books were brave enough to place a wager on the efforts of a writer from the world of radio, and unfailingly supportive throughout the project. Marianne Ginsburg and her colleagues at the German Marshall Fund of the United States came to my rescue with funding that allowed me to embark on this expedition.

Many veterans of the struggles over agricultural biotechnology went out of their way to help me understand their story. Im grateful in particular for the aid of Fred Gould, Mary-Dell Chilton, Paul Heisey, Eric Van Dusen, and Tom Urban, who checked parts of early versions of the manuscript for accuracy. A number of former and current employees of Monsanto were generous with their time and memories. Id especially like to thank Philip Angell, Will Carpenter, Charles Gasser, Rob Horsch, Ernest Jaworski, Harry Klee, and Steve Rogers. Thanks are due a number of others who wished to remain unnamed. Margaret Mellon and Jane Rissler at the Union of Concerned Scientists allowed me to look through some of their accumulated papers from a decades devotion to this issue. Others to whom Im especially indebted include Detlef Bartsch, Andrew Baum, Peter Carlson, Robert Colwell, Donald Duvick, Cary Fowler, Rebecca Goldburg, Robert Goodman, Richard Hellmich, John Howard, Kenneth Moonie, Michael Morris, Peter Raven, Mike Roth, Ann Jennings Shackleford, and Tray Thomas. Special thanks to Audrey Schneiderman, who allowed me to look through her late husbands personal notebooks, and to Cheeze and Peppy, who opened their home to me during visits to St. Louis.

My friends and former colleagues at National Public Radio and New Scientist have been a constant source of encouragement and good advice. Thanks in particular to Anne Gudenkauf, who always received news of my shifting career plans with good humor and support, and Christopher Joyce, who persuaded me by example that writing books was a worthwhile occupation, even if one ended up living on beans while waiting for that final installment of the publishers advance. Thanks also to Rob Gurwitt, who helped carve the manuscript into shape.

Some of the material that Ive included in the second half of the book was collected while reporting for National Public Radio from 1993 to 1999. An invitation to speak at a meeting of the Wisconsin Academy of Arts and Sciences in the fall of 2000 provoked the thoughts that later grew into the epilogue.

My greatest debt of gratitude is owed my family. My parents, who taught me how to see the world, then let me go explore it for myself, have been my most loyal readers. The sharp and wise judgments of Brigid, my lovely in-house editor, freed me repeatedly from thickets of technical minutiae, even at the temporary cost of marital harmony. Molly and Nora, banging on the door of my room or sliding their latest drawings underneath it, were a constant reminder of all the things in life that are more important.