| When I first started this book, I was naive about the amount of time required to complete such an enormous project. In the early stages, before I began the intense drafting and interviews, a few people gave me the confidence, encouragement and motivation to commit to the completion of the project. I thank Terry Kahn, Chris Schenkel, Bill Myles, Bill Welter, Walter Hailey and Steve Bull for their support prior to and during the embryonic stages of the book. |
| The members of my immediate familymy mother, Mary; my brother, Pat; my wife, Rita; my daughters, Kirsten and Holly; and Donna Wilkinson also lent encouragement as well as considerable background material. |
| Special thanks to Ned Hockman for his recollections and for many of the pictures that appear in the book. Thanks also to Mike Treps, former Sports Information Director at the University of Oklahoma, who allowed me to quote extensively from interviews he conducted with Dad. |
| I am grateful to Bill Carmack and Dick Snider, not only for background information, but also for their editorial suggestions as the project took shape. |
| I want to thank all those whose comments appear in the book. Their enthusiastic response to my requests for interviews was overwhelming. Their contributions give the book much greater dimension and depth. I also appreciate the time and interest of those whose comments were not included. |
| I thank my assistant, Cathy Baker, who not only lent encouragement and support, but also spent countless hours typing and retyping drafts and interviews. |
| Finally, I commend my collaborator and friend, Gretchen Hirsch, who was recommended to me by our priest, Michael Jupin. Terry Kahn told me early in the project, "Jay, you don't want to write the book at all unless it's going to be a good book." It never could have been completed in its present form without Gretchen's professional skills, for which I remain most grateful. |
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