Janet Mancini Billson - Pathways to Manhood

First and foremost, the Pathways to Identity boys and their families deserve our deepest appreciation for opening up their homes and lives to interviewers who, although they lived in the same community, were complete strangers. We are all richer for their willingness to speak candidly during trying times. The project fostered a special bond of colleagueship and friendship with Bernard E. Bruce, one of the Pathways co-directors. He provided guidance and inspiration as I struggled to make sense of the Pathways data almost three decades ago, and has devoted hours and energy in trying to locate the boys as they enter middle age (see Epliogue). A valued working relationship has also emerged with Richard Majors, whose enthusiasm about Strategic Styles led to our collaboration on a later work, Cool Pose. He championed the books revival and encouraged me to write a new chapter on the typologys practical applications. These two scholars have given freely of their time and their insights. I owe them an enormous intellectual debt. In 1964 at Kent State University I took The Adolescent in Modern American Society with the late African-American sociologist, Oscar Ritchie. In retrospect I realize how profoundly that course influenced my career. It led me into sociology and left me indelibly intrigued with the dilemmas of adolescence, race, gender, identity formation, and marginality that he so brilliantly interconnected. Later, at Baldwin-Wallace College, Paul Sites taught me to love research and theory alike, and to think of the cultural and community aspects of identity. These issues continue to define the way I do and teach sociology.

During graduate work at Brandeis, the wisdom of Everett Hughes, Lewis Coser, Gordon Fellman, Irv Zola, Morris Schwartz, and Maurice Stein created a contextual framework for the analysis of qualitative data that constantly forced me to make connections between individual experiences and wider societal issues. The greatest debt, though, is to Kurt Wolff, my dissertaion committee chair and chief curmudgeon. Mentor and friend, he brought Strategic Styles to life and taught me to stay close to the boys words while always looking beyond for hidden patterns and broader conceptualizations.

Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Irving Horowitz and Mary E. Curtis of Transaction, who embraced the idea of bringing the Pathways boys back to life in this expanded second edition. Their commitment to African-American studies, in combination with the fine editorial leadership of Karen Stuppi, has made the enterprise seem exceedingly worthwhile.